Kiwi police to help identify MH17 crash victims

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WELLINGTON: New Zealand specialists are to join international efforts to identify all 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Xinhua news agency reported.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Thursday three disaster victim identification experts left for the Netherlands on Thursday to help with the task as bodies were repatriated from the crash site in Ukraine.

“New Zealand is encouraged that a process is under way to repatriate many of the bodies to the Netherlands, and that the aircraft’s flight data recorders are now in safe custody,” McCully said.

“But much remains to be done. The crash site must be properly secured, with unimpeded access for international investigating authorities.”

The New Zealand police have internationally recognised disaster identification expertise, having responded to other tragedies such as the Christchurch earthquake and the Asian tsunami. –BERNAMA