KIEV: The train carrying more than 280 remains from the tragic MH17 crash arrived in Kharkiv from rebel-held Torez slightly after noon today (5pm Malaysia).
In Kharkiv, some 300km from Grabovo, where the aircraft went down, to handle the remains were members of an international team, including Malaysian forensics experts and Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) members.
There were 36 members of the Malaysian team in all, but only seven people, all from the police forensics unit, were allowed into the train station there to handle the bodies.
Media who had been waiting for the arrival of the refrigerated train carrying the remains from Torez were not allowed into the station.
From the train station, the bodies will be taken to a Ukrainian military base then flown to Amsterdam aboard Dutch military aircraft.
There, forensics work like post mortem examinations and identification processes can begin in earnest so that the bodies can be repatriated.
Police forensics unit members will accompany the bodies to Amsterdam while the Smart team members will return to Kiev to join the rest of the Malaysian team who will fly to Amsterdam later tonight.