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BOEING 777 CRASH IN DONBASS

Donetsk self-defence forces promise to ensure access to Malaysian jet crash site

They also promised to ensure safe access to the site for a Ukrainian investigation commission that will also include international specialists and ensure security guarantee to OSCE observers

KIEV, July 18, /ITAR-TASS/. Self-defence forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic have promised to ensure access to the Malaysian Boeing crash site for representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), according to a press release of the three-party contact group, involving the OSCE, Russia and Ukraine made public on Friday.

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On Thursday, the group had a videoconference with representatives of the Donetsk Republic’s self-defence forces to discuss issues of the access to the crash site. Representatives of the Donetsk self-defence forces said they were ready “to isolate the crash site and ensure access for the local authorities to do preliminary work before rescue operations.” They also promised to ensure safe access to the site for a Ukrainian investigation commission that will also include international specialists and ensure security guarantee to OSCE observers.

The self defence forces said they were ready to cooperate with Ukrainian government agencies to recover bodies of those killed in the crash and probe into the accident.

A Boeing-777 of the Malaysian Airlines that was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, disappeared from the radars and crashed on Thursday evening near the settlement of Grabovo in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. All those who were onboard the plane - 280 passengers and 15 crew members - died. According to preliminary data, passengers included citizens of the Netherlands, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Malaysia.

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