MH17: 'justice' demands through investigation

Crash investigators face almost
unsurmountable challenges, but for the sake of the 298 victims, they
must try, says retired US transport investigator Hank Hughes.
Reports of looting are now emerging from the crash site of
MH17 as bodies remain strewn across the area more than 24 hours after
the disaster.



Adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs, Anton
Gerashchenko has reported that "terrorists" have begun collecting
valuables belonging to the victims of the tragedy.




"Death-hunters collecting Were not Only Cash money and
Jewelry of the crashed Boing passengers died but Also the credit cards
of the Victims [sic]," he wrote on his Facebook page.





Pro-Russian separatists look at passengers' belongings at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Pro-Russian separatists look at passengers' belongings at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photo: Reuters


The reports come alongside those of a chaotic investigation being conducted among the wheat fields at the crash site.



Advertisement
Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe’s special monitoring mission for
Ukraine, told ABC News Radio that bodies at the crash site were already
“starting to decompose in the fields”. 



''It is astonishing to go there and this scene with no recovery going on,'' Mr Bociukiw said.





A pro-Russian separatist holds up a stuffed toy found at the crash site.
A pro-Russian separatist holds up a stuffed toy found at the crash site. Photo: Reuters


He said there there appeared to be no tampering with bodies
at the site except markers were being placed near to them or to body
parts. He said debris seemed to still be in place. He said the crash
site could be up to six kilometres wide.



''It is a very, very gruesome scene and it boggles the mind
that this could go on, we are going into day two or three now,'' Mr
Bociukiw said. 



He said it was disturbing to find no credible leader in the separatist-held area to establish the facts at the site.





There have been reports of looting and gunfire at the site of the wreckage.
There have been reports of looting and gunfire at the site of the wreckage. Photo: MAXIM ZMEYEV


Questions remained about how many bodies were there and the
location of the black box. Mr Bociukiw's delegation needed to find out
whether it was safe enough for international experts to begin their
investigation into the disaster. He said many of the separatists
appeared ''very aggressive'', under the influence of alcohol and
possibly drugs.



''It is kind of the world's biggest crime scene right now,'' Mr Bociurkiw said.



He said his team had been in touch with Malaysian senior
officials whose prime concern was that the bodies were treated in a
human way.



''One immediate requirement would be refrigerated trailers -
anything where these bodies could be moved - so they don't continue to
lie there, exposed to the elements,'' Mr Bociurkiw said.



He said, 25 workers from the OSCE had access to the crash
site for just 75 minutes before they were forced to leave. He said a gun
shot was fired into the air as they left. 



OSCE council chairman, Thomas Greminger told Reuters that
workers assessing the scene "did not have the kind of access that they
expected. They did not have the freedom of movement that they need to do
their job. The crash site is not sealed off".
Denjen
Doroschenko, an Australian journalist working in Ukraine told Fairfax
Media in a radio interview that separatist organisations on the ground
were "clueless about how to control a disaster area at all".



Dr Geoff Dell, an air crash investigation expert from Central
Queensland University, said in any crash investigation it is critical
that all on site know what they are doing.



"The longer it stays unexamined the more likely it gets
contaminated, especially when there is people that aren’t really
familiar with accident scenes, stomping all over it," he said.



"The longer that goes on the more likely something you’re looking for is either destroyed, or stolen."

He referred to Lauda Air Flight 004 which crashed in Thailand in 1991,
in which a critical component was never found due to looting.

"Overnight a large percentage of the wreckage was pilfered. Pieces of
the airplane that you couldn’t for the life of you think someone would
want to steal, were taken," he said. 
Dr Dell said it was
crucial that proper protocols were followed, such as protecting the
perimeter to keep people out and setting up a grid.



"You draw up a grid so you can set up the relationship with
the wreckage and identify exactly where each critical piece of evidence
came from," he said. 



Armed guards are reportedly guarding the crash site near Torez, in a remote eastern area of Ukraine, where it is said the typical investigation grid is absent.



Dr Dell said bodies that are still at the scene pose a
different risk, as the risk of infection and disease to investigators on
the crash scene increases.



"It's inevitable some contamination will take place during the rescue of removal of the bodies," he said.

"In other parts of the world there is less awareness of that, and I
wouldn't be surprised given what we’ve seen, if the crash site hasn't
already been substantially altered by the actions of the people in the
first response."