DONETSK, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - The Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine agreed on Monday to declare a ceasefire in clashes with pro-Kiev forces in the radius of 40 kilometers (25 miles) around the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, according to a leader of the self-proclaimed state.
“This should help to ensure safe work of experts [at the crash site],” Prime Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Boroday said during a news briefing.
Boroday said a large group of international flight safety experts, including officials from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is expected to arrive in Donetsk soon. It was also reported that Malaysian aviation experts arrived in Donetsk to investigate the crash.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered the country's regular army to stop all military action against independence supporters within a radius of the 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the site of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash.
On Monday, over 800 Ukrainian rescue workers completed their search for the bodies of Malaysian plane crash victims. Search parties scoured an area of 120 square kilometers around the plane crash site.
A total of 282 bodies and 87 body fragments were found at the crash site. The bodies were loaded into refrigerated train cars at a railway station in the city of Torez near the crash site and will be sent to the city of Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman.
Meanwhile, Donetsk self-defense forces told RIA Novosti reporter that a train carrying the bodies of the crash victims departed from Torez, heading toward the town of Ilovaisk in Donetsk Region.
The Malaysia Airlines' passenger plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17 when it crashed near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people 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 airliner ever since reports suggested foul play, with independence supporters saying they have no required technology to shoot a target at altitude of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
The investigation of the crash has been reportedly hampered by ongoing skirmishes between the warring sides.
