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Train with fragments of crashed MH17 flight leaves Donetsk republic’s territory

A representative of the Dutch Security Council told journalists the operation for recovering the MH17 fragments from the crash site near Donetsk was over

DOENTSK, November 23. /TASS/. A train carrying wreckage of Malaysia’s MH17 flight that crashed in eastern Ukraine has left the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic /DPR/, press secretary of the DPR ministry of transport Ella Zhuranskaya told TASS on Sunday.

“According to our information, the train is to have arrived in Kharkov. Onboard the train are observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/ and Dutch investigators. Responsibility for the train’s safety while it is moving across the Ukrainian territory rests with the Ukrainian side, since DPR policemen had left the train before it left the territory of our republic,” she said.

The train of twelve cargo carriages, which were sealed by the Dutch specialists, and one passenger carriage left the Pelageyevka village on Sunday morning. The train was escorted by the Donetsk police till the Yasinovataya station.

A representative of the Dutch Security Council told journalists the operation for recovering the MH17 fragments from the crash site near Donetsk was over. She noted there were more fragment left at the crash site, mostly small pieces of no interest for investigation. These fragments would be disposed of by the local service in line with agreements reached, she added.

The operation to collects fragments of the crashed plane started on November 16. Specialists managed to remover as many fragments as possible in cooperation with the OSCE and the local service, despite the difficult security situation, she said.

The Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region, some 60 km (over 37 miles) from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operations between the Donetsk self-defense forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crewmembers onboard the aircraft - 298 people - died. Most of the passengers - 196 people - were Dutch citizens.

The Dutch Safety Board, leading the investigation, plans to partly reconstruct the plane in the Netherlands in order to more thoroughly investigate the causes of the tragedy.