Newly appointed Minister of Transportation Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is in Kiev to negotiate with Ukrainian authorities for access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, but even the road trip there might not be a done deal.
The Ukrainian government was unable to provide guarantees of safe passage for Malaysian observers and investigators to the town of Grabovo, in the contested Donetsk province currently under the control of Russia-backed separatist rebels.
Astro Awani reports that Liow has also released a statement saying the Ukrainian government has also informed international investigators that the MH17 search and recovery area is fully under the control of the separatists, with whom the government in Kiev have had no communications.
The international investigative team includes officials from the Netherlands, Malaysia, the UK and the US.
“The only body that has so far been granted safe passage to the crash site is the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe),” said Liow.
Liow is in Kiev to negotiate arrangements for the MH17 investigation with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who is also the chairperson of the Ukrainian Government’s Special Commission for MH17.
Liow insists that the evidence found at the crash site not be tampered with, and that the original condition of the site be maintained as much as possible.
“It is imperative that international investigators be given full and unfettered access to the crash site,” he said in a statement.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed late last night over Ukraine, with debris landing near the town of Grabovo. The Boeing 777 jetliner was carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated at a press conference in KLIA this morning that the Ukrainian government believes Flight MH17 was shot down.
Folliwng the crash, Malaysia Airlines has announced it would reroute all its flights to and from Europe to avoid Ukrainian airspace, with immediate effect.
See Also:
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