REPORT: OSCE says body parts still on site of Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine

There are still human remains on the site where a Malaysian passenger plane hit the ground in eastern Ukraine after being downed, a representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) watchdog said on Tuesday.      

"We observed the presence of smaller body parts at the site," an OSCE spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw, told a briefing in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk after his group inspected the site earlier in the day.       

"We did not observe any recovery activity in place."

A train carrying the remains of many of the victims of a Malaysia Airlines plane downed over eastern Ukraine arrived in Ukrainian government territory on Tuesday (July 22).
 
The train carrying around 200 body bags arrived in the eastern city of Kharkiv, which is in Ukrainian government hands. The bodies will then be taken back to the Netherlands to be identified.
 
The train left the crash site on Monday (July 21) after the Malaysian prime minister agreed with the separatists for recovered bodies to be handed over to authorities in the Netherlands, where two thirds of the victims came from.
 
The handover and reports by international investigators of improved access to the wreckage of the airliner four days after it was shot down, came amid calls for broader sanctions against Russia for its support for the rebellion.
 
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the phone to discuss an international investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

It was the second time in three days that Putin has spoken to Rutte about the crash, in which 298 people died, of which 193 were Dutch citizens.

The Kremlin said the "direct and full access of experts to the tragedy site" for further investigation by the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was discussed.

"In this light, the need for immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the conflict zone was stressed again," the Kremlin added.

White House:

International investigators still need "immediate and full access" to the site of the Malaysian Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine, the White House said on Tuesday.       

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed news that victims' remains were being transferred to the Netherlands but said, "I don't think we've seen yet the level of cooperation with international investigators that we'd like to see."

EU sanctions:

European Union governments are discussing the possibility of imposing capital restrictions on Russia and sanctions in defence and energy technology if Moscow does not cooperate in the probe into a plane crash in Ukraine, diplomats said on Tuesday.       

Under proposals being discussed by EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the EU would draw up a package for sanctions in these areas that the 28-nation would act on if Russia did not cooperate over the crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane, which killed nearly 300 people.

Britain's Cameron:

Britain has agreed to a Dutch request for air accident investigators to retrieve data from the black boxes of the Malaysia Airlines plane that was downed over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday.   

"We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from MH17 black boxes for international analysis," Cameron said on Twitter. 

Dutch Prime Minister:

Attitudes towards Russia have changed "fundamentally" since last week's downing of a Malaysian airliner, and the European Union must put pressure on Moscow to do more to calm the unrest in eastern Ukraine, the Dutch Prime Minister said on Tuesday.       

European officials have said that the Dutch, who lost 193 citizens in Thursday's crash, have the moral weight to demand tougher sanctions and other measures against Russia from their European partners.        

"We want justice, a united European Union approach and pressure on Russia to do more," Mark Rutte said. "Our priorities are getting our people back, an independent investigation, and justice."         

He said Ukraine had given the Netherlands the leading role in investigating the causes of the crash. The first bodies from the crash were expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesday, he said.