MH17: Julie Bishop arrives in Kharkiv as Australia pushes tosecure Malaysia Airlines crash site

Updated July 26, 2014 07:58:15

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has visited Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine as Australia continues to pushfor greater security and access to the MH17 crash site.

Ms Bishop signed an agreement with her Dutch counterpart, Frans Timmermans, on Friday morningallowing Australian investigators to work at the site.

Both foreign ministers later attended a ceremony in Kharkiv marking the journey of MH17 victims'bodies from Ukraine to the Netherlands.

The push came as investigators at the scene found a previously undiscovered part of the MalaysiaAirlines plane's fuselage, along with more bodies, more than a week after the Boeing 777 was shotdown.

It is understood the location of the bodies has been marked with a white flag, but investigators donot have the facilities available to handle human remains.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has meanwhile confirmed a further 100 federal police officers and asmall number of Defence personnel have been deployed to Europe ahead of a possible "humanitarianmission" linked to the tragedy.

The fresh discovery of the wreckage has highlighted an urgent need for the crash area to bethoroughly searched, but continued fighting in the surrounding region has hampered the efforts ofinvestigators.

A spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), MichaelBociurkiw, says the piece of fuselage that was found "appeared out of nowhere".

"The most significant find today was we went into a heavily wooded area and found a huge piece offuselage," Mr Bociurkiw said.

"I think this is the part of the plane that came down which ... travellers would say resembles anairline. The windows were still intact and if one wanted to they could even climb inside and becovered.

"It almost appeared out of nowhere because there were no tell-tale signs, no broken branches,nothing to indicate that a piece of fuselage had landed there."

Mr Bociurkiw said investigators were also closely examining the area of the crash site where thecockpit had landed.

"The other thing the investigators took an interest in was the cockpit area because there are stillpersonal and professional belongings of the crew in there," he said.

"There is also a lot of sensitivity around human remains ... and for the second day in a row we didcome across more human remains, not much, but it does indicate that they are there and ... that avery detailed sweep of the entire area will probably be needed to make sure nothing is missed."

Pro-Russian rebels have continually caused problems during the investigation, blocking access to thesite and harassing recovery workers.

However, the OSCE says there were no incidents overnight, as they were joined by experts fromAustralia and Malaysia.

On Friday, Mr Abbott's office has announced a New Zealand citizen who had resided in Australiawas among the crash victims, bringing the total number of Australian citizens and residents killed to38.

Mr Abbott earlier announced a further 100 AFP officers will be deployed to the Netherlands ahead ofany mission to help secure the crash site.

Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus says it is on top of the 90 officers already working on thetragedy, which killed 298 people.

"We have pre-deployed 50 people to London. We have 40 people working in the Ukraine andNetherlands doing the painstaking work around the identification," he said.

Mr Abbott says Australia is close to finalising an agreement which could see potentially armed policeassisting with investigations and recovering remains.

"It is a fundamentally humanitarian mission. That is what it is. A humanitarian mission to do theright thing by the grieving families of Australia and the wider world," he said.

"Let's never forget that there were 298 innocent people on that aircraft. They have been wronged.Their countries have been wronged.

"This is a humanitarian mission [to], as far as we can, after the event, do the right thing by thevictims and to do the right thing by their families."

Mr Abbott, who spoke with US president Barack Obama on Friday, says a small number of Defencepersonnel are also heading to Europe.

"Many of the AFP deployed won't be armed. Some of them could be armed and yes, there will besome ADF as part of this deployment, should it go ahead," he said.

Three Australian officials, including a forensic specialist, have now visited the crash site, which isnow officially the responsibility of Dutch investigators.

The Government says it will help Australian officials move around and give them legal cover inUkraine.

"I feel confident that with the legal and operational matters underway that we'll be in a position tostart work on the site without much further delay," Ms Bishop said.

Asked whether families should prepare themselves for a delay of weeks or even longer before thebodies of the 298 victims are sent home, Ms Bishop said: "We're not talking about weeks, we'retalking about days."

Another 74 bodies have been flown into the city of Eindhoven, where they will be examined byforensics experts for identification.

An RAAF C17 and a Dutch military plane were used to transport the second group of bodies toEindhoven.

A formal reception was once again staged on the tarmac and crowds gathered at the air base's gatesto pay their respects as the procession of hearses passed.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian people face fresh elections in October after their prime minister ArseniyYatsenyuk resigned.

Both parties have now pulled out of the government, causing it to collapse. However, in 30 days thepresident will be able to call fresh elections with the aim to get rid of the old administration.

ABC/wires

Photo: A Malaysian air-crash investigator works at the crash site. (Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: Military men carry a coffin containing the remains of a victim of downed Malaysia Airlinesflight MH17, during a ceremony at Eindhoven Airbase. (AFP: Robin van Lonhuijsen)

Photo: An Australian flag catches the wind alongside the multitude of flowers left at Schiphol Airportin Amsterdam. (Audience submitted: Ellyn Cook)

Photo: A convoy of hearses, bearing remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

crash, are escorted along the A27 highway by military police to Hilversum, Netherlands, where theywere to be identified by forensic experts, July 23, 2014. (Reuters: Marco de Swart )

Photo: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (L), Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, (C), and wife Lynne,(R), watch as MH17 victims return to Eindhoven Airbase, the Netherlands, July 23, 2014. (AAP: DanHimbrechts)

Photo: Members of the Ukrainian Emergency Ministry carry a body at the crash site of MalaysiaAirlines Flight MH17, near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region on July 19, 2014.(Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: A Twitpic from Australia's ambassador to Russia, Paul Myler, showing flowers and a notereading 'Forgive us' left outside the Australian embassy in Moscow, on July 19, 2014. Thirty-sixAustralian citizens and residents were among 298 killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 wasshot down over Ukraine. (Twitter: Paul Myler (@PosolAustralia))

Photo: People gather during a candlelight vigil for the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, inKuala Lumpur on July 19, 2014. (AFP: Manan Vatsyayana)

Photo: Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors speak with a pro-Russianseparatist at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

(Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: The wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is pictured two days after crashed in asunflower field near the village of Rassipnoe, in rebel-held east Ukraine. (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: A pro-Russian separatist holds a stuffed toy found at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight

MH17 near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, July 18, 2014. (Reuters:Maxim Zmeyev )

Photo: Firefighters extinguish a fire, on July 17, 2014, amongst the wreckage of Malaysia Airlineflight MH17 that crashed near Shaktarsk, Ukraine. (AFP: Alexander Khudoteply)

Photo: A pro-Russian separatist walks on part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777(Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a fire amid the smouldering wreckage. (AFP:

Dominique Faget)

Photo: An emergency worker looks at the mangled wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17plane that crashed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. (Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: Firefighters extinguish a fire among the wreckage as night descends on the crash scene.(AFP: Alexander Khudoteply)

Photo: People walk among the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane that crashed in the

Donetsk region of Ukraine, killing 298 people. (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: Alexander Borodai, the self-proclaimed prime minister of the pro-Russian separatist "DonetskPeople's Republic", visits the crash site, flanked by bodyguards. (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: Men stand next to the wreckage of the plane, which disappeared from radar screens beforeplunging to earth. (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: People walk past some of the wreckage. Early speculation pointed to a surface-to-air missile

shooting down the plane. (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: Flowers and candles were left at a makeshift memorial outside the Netherlands Embassy inKiev, Ukraine. (AFP: Sergei Supinsky)

Photo: Akmar Binti Mohd Noor, 67, whose sister was onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 thatcrashed in Ukraine en route to Malaysia, cries at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (AFP:Manan Vatsyayana)

Photo: Relatives of passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 get on a bus at SchipholAirport near Amsterdam. (AFP: Olaf Kraak)

Photo: The BBC quoted one farm worker in the area as saying, "I was working in the field on mytractor when I heard the sound of a plane, then a bang and shots". (Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev)

Photo: Passenger luggage lies near the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane. (AFP: DominiqueFaget)

Photo: Witness: "There was thick black smoke from a nearby factory. From my balcony I saw a plane

begin to descend from a great height and then heard two explosions." (AFP: Dominique Faget)

Photo: An emergency worker at the site of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash. (Reuters: MaximZmeyev)

Photo: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17 sits at the G3 gate at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, before ittook off for Kuala Lumpur and crashed in Ukraine. (Reuters: Yaron Mofaz)

Photo: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 leaves Schiphol Airport in Schiphol, the Netherlands, on July

17, 2014, before being shot down over eastern Ukraine. (AFP: Fred Neeleman)

Gallery: Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, government-and-politics, ukraine, australia, russian-federation, netherlands

First posted July 25, 2014 06:38:09

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-25/australian-experts-visit-mh17-crash-site-as-dutch-take-charge/5622860