Obama Responds To Possible Cover-up: Rebels release train with bodies from downed jet
Jul 21st 2014 8:30PM
Members
of Ukraine's emergency services put on protective suits as they prepare
to unload newly retrieved bodies into a refrigerated train in Torez,
eastern Ukraine, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the crash site of Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17, Monday, July 21, 2014. Another 21 bodies have been
found in the sprawling fields of east Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines
Flight 17 was downed last week, killing all 298 people aboard.
International indignation over the incident has grown as investigators
still only have limited access to the crash site and it remains unclear
when and where the victims' bodies will be transported. (AP Photo/Vadim
Ghirda)
By NICOLAS GARRIGA and NICOLAE DUMITRACHE
Associated Press
HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) -- Bowing to international pressure, pro-Moscow
separatists released a train packed with bodies and handed over the
black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane, four days after it
plunged into rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
With body parts decaying in sweltering heat and signs that evidence
at the crash site was mishandled, anger in Western capitals has mounted
at the rebels and their allies in Moscow. Their reluctant cooperation
will soothe mourning families and help investigators, but may do little
to reconcile the East-West powers struggling over Ukraine's future.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday it saw no evidence a missile
was fired and denied involvement in the downing of Flight 17 - and
suggested the Ukrainian military was at fault. President Vladimir Putin
spoke out but showed no sign of abandoning the separatists as fighting
flared anew near the site of the crash.
President Barack Obama accused the rebels of tampering with evidence
and insulting victims' families, warning of new sanctions. Europeans
will consider their own sanctions Tuesday.
The bodies of the 298 victims, most from the Netherlands, have become a
part of the conflict in Ukraine because they could hold evidence of what
brought the plane down on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to
Kuala Lumpur.
Grief turned to anger as families begged to get the bodies of their
loved ones back, while the separatists held on to the remains.
"Bodies are just lying there for three days in the hot sun. There are
people who have this on their conscience," said Silene
Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son, Bryce, and his girlfriend Daisy Oehlers
died on their way to a vacation in Bali, in an interview with The
Associated Press in the Netherlands. "When I am in my bed at night, I
see my son lying on the ground. ... They have to come home, not only
those two. Everybody has to come home."
International forensics experts finally gained access to the crash
site Monday - an emotional experience for the head of the Dutch National
Forensic Investigations Team, Peter Van Vliet. Seeing the wreckage gave
him goosebumps, he said.
The team stumbled across remains that had not yet been removed and inspected the perished passengers' luggage.
In Torez, a rebel-held town 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the crash
site, inspectors bowed heads and clasped hands before climbing aboard
refrigerated train cars holding the collected bodies. Armed rebels
surrounded them, while commuters boarded other trains nearby.
The smell of decay was overwhelming. Workers wore masks, while
passersby twisted their faces in horror at the odor. Temperatures hit 84
degrees F (29 degrees C), and a train engineer told the AP that a power
outage had hit the refrigeration system temporarily overnight.
The rebels in Torez did not appear too conciliatory as the tense day
wore on. They repeatedly tried to block reporters from access to the
visiting experts, growing more aggressive throughout.
Late Monday, trucks arrived at the Torez station with plastic bags
apparently filled with body parts, as well as piles of luggage -
suitcases, backpacks, a purse with a Louis Vuitton label.
Ukrainian authorities said the total number of bodies recovered was 282.
Dutch investigators demanded the separatists transfer the bodies immediately, and the rebels complied after several hours.
With a long whistle and puff of smoke, the train bearing the bodies
pulled slowly out of the station. Rebels holding automatic rifles walked
alongside as it chugged away, a cluster of children on bicycles looking
on.
It was headed through troubled territory, its destination not 100 percent clear.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the train was heading for the
rebel-held city of Donetsk, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the crash
site, and then on to Kharkiv, site of a crisis center controlled by the
Ukrainian government. He said Ukrainian authorities have agreed to let
the bodies be transferred from there to the Netherlands for
identification, but gave no time frame.
Early Tuesday, the rebels handed over both black boxes from Flight 17
to Malaysian investigators in Donetsk. A rebel leader, Alexander
Borodai, said the orange-colored flight recorders were being handed over
to Malaysian officials on the condition that they would be delivered to
experts at the International Civil Aviation Organization.
"I can see that the black box is intact even though a little bit
damaged, but in a good condition," said Col. Mohamad Sakri of the
Malaysian National Security Council. He added that the number one
priority was for the bodies of the victims to be delivered to Amsterdam.
Earlier, a team of international observers at the sprawling crash site described strange behavior by workers.
"When we were leaving, we observed workers there hacking into the
fuselage with gas-powered equipment," OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw
told reporters in Donetsk.
He said there was no security perimeter Monday at one of the bigger
debris fields, and monitors saw that one of the largest pieces of the
plane "had somewhat been split or moved apart."
In Washington, Obama asked, "What exactly are they trying to hide?"
"This is an insult to those who have lost loved ones. This is the
kind of behavior that has no place in the community of nations," he
said.
On Sunday, the U.S. said there was "powerful" evidence that the
rebels had shot down the plane with a Russian surface-to-air missile,
including video of a rocket launcher, one surface-to-air missile
missing, being driven away from the likely launch site; imagery showing
the firing; phone calls claiming credit for the missile strike and phone
recordings said to reveal a cover-up at the crash site.
The Russian Defense Ministry offered its own evidence Monday, showing
photos it said proved that Ukrainian surface-to-air systems were
operating in the area before the crash - nine times alone the day the
plane was brought down.
Russian officials also said they had evidence a Ukrainian Su-25
fighter jet had flown "between 3 to 5 kilometers (2 to 3 miles)" from
the Malaysia Airlines jet.
"(The plane) is armed with air-to-air R-60 rockets, which can hit a
target from a distance of up to 12 kilometers (7 miles) and guaranteed
within 5 kilometers (3 miles)," said the chief of Russia's General
staff, Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartopolov.
Defense Ministry officials insisted Russia had not given the rebels
any surface-to-air missiles - and said they have no evidence that any
missiles were launched at all. They asked the U.S. to share any
satellite images of the launch.
Putin accused others of exploiting the downing of the plane for
"mercenary objectives." He said Kiev authorities had reignited the
fighting after a unilateral cease-fire expired without progress on peace
talks.
At the U.N., the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution
demanding international access to the crash site and an end to military
activities around the area, following intense pressure on a reluctant
Russia to support the measure.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine began in mid-April after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimean Peninsula a month earlier.
Battles erupted again Monday between the separatists and government
troops in Donetsk, according to city authorities. An AP reporter heard
several explosions and saw smoke rising from the direction of the city
airport.
More from AOL.com:
Vital evidence feared withheld by Ukraine's rebels
Rebels agree to hand over black boxes to Malaysia
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David McHugh in Kiev, Laura Mills and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow,
Lucian Kim in Donetsk, Ukraine, Alexandra Olson at the United Nations
and Mike Corder in The Hague, Nether
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