MH17 A Malaysian journalist has been slammed after being filmed disturbing suspected human remains with a stick at the MH17 crash site.

“A Malaysia Gazette visit has found that there are still fragments believed to be skin at the MH17 crash site,” said the news portal’s chief reporter Khairuddin Mohd Amin in the video.

As Khairuddin finishes his sentence, the camera pans towards the ground, zooming in on him flicking a long, burnt object on the ground with a stick.

The video was uploaded on Malaysia Gazette ’s official YouTube channel on July 23 and was accompanied by a blurb mentioning that the skin was of human origin. The video lasted for two minutes and 29 seconds.

“Malaysia can now boast of yet another international achievement: membership in the MH17 Journalism Hall of Shame, for a disgusting violation of privacy in death,” said senior journalist Gobind Rudra on his blog Uppercaise yesterday in response to the video.

Twitter as well carried condemnations since yesterday, as netizens began to take notice of the video.

“Dear Malaysia Gazette , is this indeed your chief reporter? Shameful!” said Twitter user @klubbkiddkl.

“Who let Malaysia Gazette enter the MH17 crash site for their reporter to disturb pieces of the victims’ skin and flesh? What is this?” asked another user @ibnukhusairy.

“If what was being flicked around is the remains of a Malaysian onboard MH17, how are you going to explain to the families? My God, it’s like an insult,” he continued.

The gaffe is the latest in a series of missteps involving journalists at the MH17 crash site, which is in separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine and reportedly remained unsecured for days since the crash.

The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft was shot down while flying over the area on July 17, killing all 298 persons on board.

Previously, SkyNews reporter Colin Brazier apologised after he rummaged through a victim’s luggage on live television, while Dutch current affairs show EenVandaag apologised after its reporter picked up a victim’s diary at the crash site and read it on camera.

Video removed

The Malaysia Gazette video could still be viewed last night but has since been removed without explanation. However, several YouTube users have uploaded copies of the video to the online video service.

Malaysiakini has contacted Malaysia Gazette for a response yesterday and has yet to receive a reply.

Separately, Ukrainian pro-Russia separatist Ekaterina Parkhomenko ( right ) deleted her Instagram account after being criticised for uploadeding a photo of mascara purportedly looted from the crash site.

“Mascara from Amsterdam; to be precise, from the field. Well, you understand,” she said in the photo’s caption, according to the UK newspaper The Telegraph’s report.

She reportedly said the Catrice-branded mascara came from a “looter acquaintance” and defended her actions before shutting down her account, saying, “I’m a separatist and after the recent events everything Ukrainian makes me feel sick and really infuriated.”