Dutch experts headed to MH17 crash site: official

A woman takes a photograph of wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), Donetsk region July 26, 2014. REUTERS Photo

A team of 30 Dutch forensic experts headed Sunday to the crash site of flight MH17 in rebel-controlled east Ukraine, Dutch officials said, despite intensifying fighting in the area.
      
The team was able to travel following an agreement the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe made with the pro-Russian separatists, the justice ministry said in a statement.
      
The Dutch are in charge of victim identification and leading the probe into what caused the crash.
      
A total of 298 people died in the July 17 disaster, 193 of them Dutch. Separatists have been accused of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines 777 by mistake.
      
Many of the bodies have been removed. A Dutch forensic team has been to the site already, but the forensic specialists investigating the crash have yet to go amid security concerns.
      
Malaysia strikes deal with Ukraine rebels to allow police at MH17 site

Malaysia said Sunday it had secured an agreement with Ukrainian rebels to allow international police personnel to enter the crash site of downed flight MH17.
      
Police would be allowed to enter the area in strife-torn eastern Ukraine "to provide protection for international crash investigators", Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's office said in a statement.
      
Malaysia said that Alexander Borodai, the leader of the separatist forces and prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, agreed Sunday to allow the police deployment.
      
"I am deeply concerned that international investigators have been unable to properly deploy to the crash site because of the volatile security situation," Najib said in the statement.
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