MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - The work of international experts on the crash site of the downed Malaysian Boeing 777 will resume once the situation in eastern Ukraine allows, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote on his Facebook page.
“Unfortunately, we have to halt the important work on the crash site [of the Malaysia Airlines plane] in Ukraine. The security situation is deteriorating rapidly, and our people are no longer able to do their work,” Timmermans said. “But we will resume the work as soon as the situation allows.”
The Dutch Foreign Minister also thanked the work of “our partners from Australia and Malaysia, a special word of appreciation for the local people, who helped us, despite the tough situation they find themselves in.”
Earlier, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the search for remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 victims was halted due to the dangerous situation around the crash site.
He also lauded the results of the recovery mission and added that the search would resume in the nearest future.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board, including 85 children, died in the crash. Kiev authorities and independence supporters have been trading blame for the downing of the plane, with independence supporters insisting they lacked the technology to shoot down a target flying at such a height.
