Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have agreed to set up a security zone around the crash site of the Malaysian jet MH17 that was apparently shot down, Ukraine's security service chief said on Saturday.
Internationally mediated talks "concluded with an agreement to set up a 20-kilometre security zone so that Ukraine could fulfil the most important thing -- identify the bodies (and) hand them over to relatives," Ukrainian Security Service head Valentyn Nalyvaychenko said in televised remarks.
Earlier, investigators faced massive hurdles as they sought access to the grisly crash site of a Malaysian plane in eastern Ukraine, with the area controlled by armed rebels blamed for downing the jet with a missile.
Despite a hail of calls from around the globe for a swift probe into the crash, initial efforts by international monitors to gain full access to the site were at first impeded by pro-Russian separatists locked in fighting with Ukraine forces.
The fate of the vital black boxes -- at least one of which was reported to have been recovered -- was unknown. AFP journalists at the site say dozens of mutilated corpses remained scattered around the vast area, the scale of which appears to have overwhelmed local rescue workers.
While the rebels, who Kiev and the US believe fired a sophisticated surface-to-air missile at the jet, had vowed to protect the scene, they had ruled out a ceasefire and rocket-fire still rings out in the distance.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, whose nation was stunned by the loss of nearly 200 citizens in the crash, arrived in Kiev Friday with a team of 15 forensic experts.
A 62-strong Malaysian disaster response team was due to arrive on Saturday, and Prime Minister Najib Razak urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phonecall to help them gain access to the site.
Concerns over the site's vulnerability are high after international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were initially blocked from fully accessing the sites by armed rebels "for their own" safety.
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