by the Ukrainian government.
Major pieces of the front of the plane appear to have been cut
away, said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the group observing the
crash site. Earlier, investigators observed someone using power
tools to cut into the wreckage.
Rebels have said they had to move and alter big pieces to get at
bodies and body parts. But the OSCE said what they saw was a
“very invasive” altering of the wreckage.
The crash site itself, in farmland held by the pro-Russian
separatists who the West accuses of shooting down the plane,
remained unsecured five days after the disaster -- another source
of frustration for officials around the world eager to establish the
facts of the case.
A refrigerated train carrying the bodies pulled into a station in
Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where Ukrainian
authorities have set up their crash investigation center.
Government spokesman Oleksander Kharchenko said Ukraine
"will do our best" to send the bodies to the Netherlands today. Of
the 298 people who died aboard the Amsterdam-to-Kuala
Lumpur flight, 193 were Dutch citizens.
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