KIEV, Ukraine - An advance team of forensic experts Thursday finally reached the site where a Malaysia Airlines flight went down in eastern Ukraine two weeks ago, after four days of false starts cut short by heavy fighting.
The team also recovered DNA samples from 25 victims and personal items belonging to 27 people, all of which had been kept in a morgue in the rebel-held city of Donetsk before being handed over to the Dutch-led team.
It took seven hours for the two Australian and two Dutch experts to drive 123 miles to what they call the chicken farm area, where the plane's wings and landing gear fell. They were delayed at Ukrainian checkpoints waiting for a cease-fire to take effect and at rebel checkpoints negotiating their advance.
The experts hope to return Friday with a larger squad to look for body parts and possessions in more locations around the widely scattered debris field. Eventually, they may use sniffer dogs.
The sunflower-drenched fields, forests and back yards where the wreckage fell may still hold the remains of as many as 80 people among the 298 aboard Flight 17 when it was shot down July 17 by a missile apparently fired from separatist-held territory.
Washington Post
