KIEV, July 21 (RIA Novosti) — Rescue workers in east Ukraine’s Donetsk region have recovered a total of 282 bodies out of the 298 who died Thursday in the Malaysian airliner crash, the country’s commission investigating the deadly tragedy said Monday.
According to the commission’s statement, “on July 21, 31 bodies and 21 body fragments of the plane’s passengers were discovered and packed [in body bags] according to standards on the site of the Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 airliner crash.”
A total of 282 bodies and 87 body fragments were found at the crash site, as of midday local time [9:00 GMT], it continued.
Bodies are being stored in refrigerated rail cars at the Torez railway station near the crash site, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Yatsenyuk said earlier on Monday 810 workers were combing through the wreckage of the crashed Malaysian plane, including 355 from the government service for emergency situations. Search parties are scouring an area of 120 square kilometers around the plane crash site.
The Malaysia Airlines’ passenger plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers on board the airliner died, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Ukrainian government and militia have been trading blame for the alleged downing of the plane, with independence supporters saying they lacked the technology to shoot down a target flying at altitude of 10,000 meters (6.2 miles).
Commenting on the crash on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was vital to abstain from hasty conclusions on the case before the international investigation was over.
The United Nations' Security Council late on Sunday night completed the text of its resolution regarding the Malaysia Airlines crash and will vote on its adoption Monday afternoon.
