The Soviet-era refrigerated train cars were far too weak to combat the stench of death.
At a sleepy whitewashed station in this run-down Ukrainian town, the cars had become a charnel-house collection point for bodies gathered from the rolling fields of wheat and sunflowers. A separatist struggle that began three months ago had already made this easternmost part of Ukraine a war zone; the downing of a passenger jet in the skies above had made the conflict global.
As residents shook their heads at the misfortune that war had brought, a team of Dutch forensic experts bowed their heads in preparation for the task that lay ahead. When rebels opened the door to one railway car, the smell hit one witness 50 feet away. Now, one woman who lives next to the train station said, the world will think that they are "terrorists."
Four days after 298 passengers and crew members perished in the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the leader of the Dutch team, Peter van Vliet, said his inspection had found the bodies in satisfactory condition. "I think that they all can be identified,'' he said. But the temperatures, he said, were "not ideal."
The grim-faced rebel guards, meanwhile, glowered at anyone who got too close to the inspection team, and their high-powered rifles left no room for negotiation. At least one wore a mask.
"It's a total mess," said Lilia, who lives next to the train station and would give only her first name because she feared for her safety. "We had a peaceful life, and now we are part of something we can't even understand."
The conflict in Ukraine makes the head reel: The February ouster of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. The Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in March. The April takeover of key buildings and towns around eastern Ukraine by local pro-Russian separatists -- and their replacement in May by leaders who are mostly Russian citizens.
Now, camouflage-clad rebel fighters keep watch on the roads at dozens of checkpoints that are made with whatever material is handy: rubber tires, concrete blocks and, in some parts of this mining country, mounds of coal. But if the construction is sometimes makeshift, the weaponry is often not. At least one rebel at a checkpoint on Monday was carrying a sophisticated sniper rifle and had a paratrooper's insignia on his left shoulder.
Their equipment appears to be getting more advanced -- culminating, perhaps, in the Buk M-1 antiaircraft systems that Secretary of State John Kerry this week blamed Russia for supplying to the rebels. U.S. and Ukrainian officials suspect that such a missile was used to down the Boeing 777-200 on Thursday.
In this hard-bitten coal-mining settlement, named after French communist politician Maurice Thorez, a grocery store and several two-story concrete-block apartment buildings clustered around the whitewashed station, sizzling in the heat.
At least a dozen heavily armed rebel guards watched warily over the Dutch inspectors, who were accompanied by another group, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The rebels led the convoy when the inspectors sped away in five white SUVs.
At the main crash site, near the town of Hrabove, about 50 miles east of Donetsk and 25 miles from the Russian border, the scene Monday was equally grim.
A dark-green dump truck rumbled past, burdened with more remains zipped into body bags. Children's playing cards, a Converse sneaker and other remnants of victims' lives lay scattered on the side of a road.
The three Dutch forensics inspectors said they were impressed with the efforts to recover bodies, but they were uncertain whether the site had been too compromised to conduct a meaningful investigation of the attack on the plane.
Local emergency workers who collected the bodies "did a hell of a job in a hell of a place," said van Vliet, the main Dutch inspector.
The chances seemed slim for a truly impartial investigation. Plane parts were scattered across vast square miles of fields, and many appeared to have been touched. Parts of one engine lay in a charred area where fresh truck tracks crisscrossed the remnants. Guard tape had been strung up, then knocked down, and local residents idly walked through the site. One part of the cockpit and nose cone appeared to have been "split or moved apart," an OSCE spokesman said.
Workers from the Donetsk regional office of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said they had been keeping an eye on the site for days. But they said they were close to wrapping up their work and would soon pile up the belongings that remained.
"Today's the last day,'' said Igor, a worker who refused to give his last name or say where the suitcases and other belongings would be taken. "No one will stay here overnight.''
The Washington Post
Tue Jul 22 2014
![A hard-bitten Ukrainian town is a way station for Flight 17 bodies A hard-bitten Ukrainian town is a way station for Flight 17 bodies](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2014-07/51405989744_295x200.jpg)
Deputy head of the OSCE mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug, right, speaks to a member of Netherlands' National Forensic Investigations team on the platform as a refrigerated train loaded with bodies - AP Photo
10 Berita Pilihan - (16 Julai 2024
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
PAC beri tempoh tiga bulan kepada HRD Corp
Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Negara (PAC) memberi tempoh tiga bulan kepada Perbadanan Pembangunan Sumber Manusia (HRD Corp) untuk mengemukakan laporan tindakan susulan terhadap syor jawatankuasa itu.
Kylian Mbappe tandatangan kontrak dengan Real Madrid
Bintang bola sepak Perancis Kylian Mbappe menandatangani kontrak selama lima tahun dengan kelab Sepanyol Real Madrid pada Selasa.
Pelepasan ketujuh air sisa nuklear Fukushima ke laut selesai
Jepun telah menyelesaikan pusingan ketujuh pelepasan air sisa radioaktif yang dirawat dari loji kuasa nuklear Fukushima Daiichi ke Lautan Pasifik pada Selasa.
Empat termasuk kapten maut dalam pertempuran
Empat anggota tentera India termasuk kapten meninggal dunia akibat kecederaan selepas pertempuuran pada malam isnin di Hutan Desa.
Pakistan sahkan 4 warganya terbunuh di Oman
Pakistan berkata pada Selasa empat warganya terbunuh dalam insiden tembakan pada malam Isnin berhampiran ibu negara Oman, Muscat.
Lima terbunuh, puluhan cedera dalam protes antikuota di Bangladesh
Sekurang-kurangnya empat orang terbunuh dan puluhan lagi cedera dalam pertempuran antara pelajar yang memprotes sistem kuota dalam pekerjaan sektor awam dan polis di pelbagai bahagian Bangladesh pada Selasa.
Kerajaan cadang perkenal pembiayaan swasta
Kerajaan menyasarkan untuk memperkenalkan pembiayaan swasta alternatif bagi memastikan kemampanan kewangan program sektor air, sekali gus mengurangkan kebergantungan pada perbelanjaan kerajaan dan mengukuhkan daya tahan.
Saya tak fitnah Guan Eng, cuma jelaskan siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Presiden Bersatu Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin memberitahu Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur hari ini bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary
KPT alu-alukan dapatan, cadangan PAC - Zambry
Ini termasuklah cadangan pelaksanaan Garis Panduan Pelaburan dan Pembiayaan oleh Universiti Awam 2024 kepada anak-anak syarikat di bawah seliaan Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (KPT).
![Pesawat KLM berpatah balik selepas alami masalah teknikal Pesawat KLM berpatah balik selepas alami masalah teknikal](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/51719159376_TBKLM.jpg)
Pesawat KLM berpatah balik selepas alami masalah teknikal
Sebuah pesawat Boeing 777 yang dikendalikan syarikat penerbangan Belanda, KLM berpatah balik ke Lapangan Terbang Schiphol Amsterdam sejurus berlepas selepas dipercayai mengalami masalah teknikal.
![Pesawat MH17 ditembak jatuh peluru berpandu buatan Rusia - Mahkamah Belanda Pesawat MH17 ditembak jatuh peluru berpandu buatan Rusia - Mahkamah Belanda](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-11/41668692138_JudgeHendrikSteenh.jpg)
Pesawat MH17 ditembak jatuh peluru berpandu buatan Rusia - Mahkamah Belanda
Mahkamah Belanda memutuskan pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH17 ditembak jatuh pada 2014 oleh peluru berpandu buatan Rusia.
![Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-03/61648036783_TBBERITAx.jpg)
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
![COVID-19: Penunjuk perasaan bantah langkah sekatan kerajaan Belanda COVID-19: Penunjuk perasaan bantah langkah sekatan kerajaan Belanda](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-01/41641165230_protest.jpg)
COVID-19: Penunjuk perasaan bantah langkah sekatan kerajaan Belanda
Pihak berkuasa tempatan melarang perhimpunan berkenaan dan mempunyai petunjuk bahawa penunjuk perasaan merancang keganasan.
![Banjir di Belanda, rakyat Malaysia selamat - Kedutaan Banjir di Belanda, rakyat Malaysia selamat - Kedutaan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2021-07/61626876230_Banjir.jpg)
Banjir di Belanda, rakyat Malaysia selamat - Kedutaan
Semua rakyat Malaysia yang berada di bandar Maastricht dan Valkenburg, Belanda yang dilanda banjir, dilaporkan selamat, kata Kedutaan Malaysia di The Hague.
![Negara anggota JIT memperingati ulang tahun ke-7 nahas MH17 Negara anggota JIT memperingati ulang tahun ke-7 nahas MH17](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2021-06/71623214179_MALAYSIA.jpg)
Negara anggota JIT memperingati ulang tahun ke-7 nahas MH17
Pasukan penyiasat bersama (JIT) MH17 merangkumi lima negara umum kekal komited mencari keadilan dan membawa ke muka pengadilan.
![Wartawan jenayah Belanda cedera parah ditembak Wartawan jenayah Belanda cedera parah ditembak](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2021-07/61625611126_PeterRdeVries.jpg)
Wartawan jenayah Belanda cedera parah ditembak
Peter R De Vries ditembak selepas membuat kemunculan dalam sebuah rancangan bual bicara di televisyen.
![Euro 2020: Lapan negara sah benarkan penonton Euro 2020: Lapan negara sah benarkan penonton](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2021-04/61618030064_UEFAEuroCup.jpg)
Euro 2020: Lapan negara sah benarkan penonton
Venue di Amsterdam, Baku, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London dan St Petersburg akan membenarkan kemasukan penonton dengan tahap kapasiti yang berbeza.
![Suspek serangan kereta api Paris dijatuhi hukuman penjara seumur hidup Suspek serangan kereta api Paris dijatuhi hukuman penjara seumur hidup](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2020-12/41608247167_MarkMoogalian.jpg)
Suspek serangan kereta api Paris dijatuhi hukuman penjara seumur hidup
Tertuduh, Ayoub El Khazzani, 31 tahun, yang berasal dari Maghribi, dipenjara seumur hidup dengan jaminan 22 tahun.
![MH17: Suspek nafi terlibat insiden tembak jatuh pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH17: Suspek nafi terlibat insiden tembak jatuh pesawat Malaysia Airlines](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2020-07/71593835905_MHCOURT.jpg)
MH17: Suspek nafi terlibat insiden tembak jatuh pesawat Malaysia Airlines
Salah seorang suspek yang didakwa dalam perbicaraan kes tembak jatuh pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH17 menafikan penglibatannya.