MH17: Grieving Australian couple visit Malaysia Airlines crash site, first victim identified as Dutch

Updated

An Australian couple who lost their daughter in downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have visited the crash site in rebel-held east Ukraine, the first relatives of victims to arrive at the scene.

Their visit came as two planes carrying the last remains found so far of the victims flew out of Ukraine to the Netherlands for identification.

Australia is still working for an agreement with Ukraine to allow an international police force into the country, and 49 unarmed AFP officers have flown to Kharkiv in readiness to help secure the crash site and protect investigators.

Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing 298 people including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

How a 'fixer' helped cover MH17

Europe correspondent Phil Williams says a man named Anzor, who learnt English watching movies, was vital to his coverage of the disaster.



Williams says all foreign correspondents depend on fixers, and a good one can save lives with sharp decisions, research and people skills.



He says Anzor negotiated with rebels, and organised everything from press passes to access to the Ukrainian president.



Listen to his reflections here.

Europe correspondent Phil Williams says a man named Anzor, who learnt English watching movies, was vital to his coverage of the disaster.Williams says all foreign correspondents depend on fixers, and a good one can save lives with sharp decisions, research and people skills.He says Anzor negotiated with rebels, and organised everything from press passes to access to the Ukrainian president.

Jerzy Dyczynski and Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski's 25-year-old daughter Fatima was on board.

Ms Rudhart-Dyczynski said she and her husband insisted they be driven to the crash scene despite warnings about fighting raging nearby.

She said they felt an urge to come to the site where it all happened.

"We have promised our daughter we will come here as soon as possible," she said.

"There was a time factor. We should have come here the minute it happened."

Ms Rudhart-Dyczynski said her daughter, an aerospace engineering student, used to want to be a pilot and had been "full of life".

Mr Dyczynski wore a white T-shirt with a picture of Fatima, who was making her way to Australia on the doomed flight to see her parents.

Authorities had warned the Perth couple not to travel to eastern Ukraine, fearing they could get caught up in the ongoing conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

The couple had first travelled to the Netherlands to provide medical and DNA samples to Dutch investigators examining human remains flown over from the site.

Forensic experts have identified the first of the victims from the plane as a Dutch citizen.

The Dutch justice ministry has not publicly released the identity of the victim, but said their family and the mayor of where they lived had been informed.

A total of 227 coffins with the remains of people of 17 nationalities have been flown to the Netherlands for formal identification.

Bishop urges Ukraine to allow armed foreign forces at site

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is pressuring the Ukrainian parliament to ratify the agreement that allows armed foreign forces to go to the crash site.

It is hoped that an Australian contingent of 150 federal police and some Defence Force personnel will be joining Dutch officers to help search for human remains left at the crash site.

Ms Bishop wants armed protection for the group, and is returning to Ukraine from the Netherlands in a bid to see foreign personnel in place as soon as possible.

"We're still trying to negotiate with the separatists who are Russian backed and owe their allegiance to Russia to bring in some form of defence, some sort of protection for our people on the site," she told Channel Ten.

Pro-Russian rebels have continually caused problems during the investigation, blocking access to the site and harassing recovery workers.

The Ukrainian government has agreed to allow in armed foreign personnel, but the deal has not been ratified due to the political turmoil in Kiev.

Ukraine's parliament may not sit until Thursday but Ms Bishop is calling for an emergency sitting.

In a statement, the Kremlin said Prime Minister Tony Abbott Abbott and Russian president Vladimir Putin have held a telephone conversation "to exchange their views on aspects of organising an independent and objective international inquiry" into the disaster.

Mr Abbott's special envoy in Ukraine, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, says it is important Australia's efforts to protect the crash site are non-threatening.

The former defence chief has told the ABC's Insiders program that there has been some access to the site and that the separatists were professional, helpful and cooperative.

"One thing that we will be going in with is primarily police and civilians, not military personnel. Military personnel have been involved in some of the activity but on this one it's a police-led mission," he said.

"If we go in in white vehicles, which is what we are going to do with the Organisation of Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), we're clearly going to be in the right sort of posture."

The Opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, says she understands why military protection may be needed for police investigators.

"The most important thing is to take the advice of Angus Houston who is there on the site and to make sure that we support his efforts there whether its with police, civilian team, whether they need ADF support for logistics or protection," she said.

"He is the best person to make that decision."

Ukraine's acting prime minister Volodymyr Groysman has said the ratification of an arrangement to allow international help is a priority.

He said he hoped the Ukrainian parliament would adopt the agreement next week.

ABC/wires

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, air-and-space, world-politics, federal-government, ukraine, australia, russian-federation, malaysia, asia

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