The international mission that collects evidence on the crash site of Malaysian Airlines' MH17 in eastern Ukraine on Nov. 12 came across more human remains, the Dutch government said.
The remains were revealed as a crane cleared ashes from the fire that broke out after the crash. They are due to be taken to Kharkiv for initial forensic tests on Nov. 13 and will then be sent on to the Netherlands, the government said in a statement.
The mission scrutinized the fire site and removed and safeguarded all the remains and personal belongings it had found, said its head, Amsterdam police chief Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg.
Aalbersberg said the team had done all that its small size had enabled it to.
The statement said the mission planned to return to the fire site for a more careful investigation. This, however, is unfeasible today as further examinations needed heavy equipment and a larger number of forensic experts, but neither is obtainable, according to Aalbersberg said.
The officer also said that, with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe still being involved in talks on the crash, the mission had no prescribed schedule and so could not start collecting fragments of the Boeing 777.
He said the team was ready to start as soon as it is given green light.
All 298 people on board the plane died as the jet crashed during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17. Nine of the victims remained unidentified by Nov. 8.
