KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has seen off a team of 68 Malaysian policemen who left the Ukrainian capital of Kiev by train for Kharkiv en route to the Donetsk region crash site of Flight MH17.

He was at the railway station in Kiev on Saturday to see off the policemen who were led by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Abu Bakar.

The policemen, who had flown to Ukraine last Wednesday, will join an international team of security forces, including from the Netherlands and Australia, to assist in the investigation into the Flight MH17 disaster of July 17.

They will be on the train to Kharkiv, about 500km from Kiev, before proceeding to Soledar, about 100km from the crash site.

In a video recording sent to Bernama, Ahmad Zahid asked Malaysians to pray for the safety of the Malaysian policemen.

The Malaysian investigation team in Ukraine comprises police forensic officers, a Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) and medical officers. — Bernama