Europe

Dutch MH17 search halts in Ukraine

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The Netherlands has halted its search operations for flight MH17 crash victims due to a surge in the fighting between pro-Russia forces and government troopers near the crash site in Ukraine.

Increasing tension is making it too dangerous for the humanitarian mission, which also includes 500 Australians, to continue searching for bodies, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a Wednesday press conference in The Hague.

He, however, pledged to the families of the victims that the search operations would resume at some point.

“It doesn’t make sense to continue with the repatriation in this manner,” Rutte said. “It goes without saying that Australia and Malaysia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation are with us on this issue… We have done what we could under the current circumstances.”

The Wednesday development came as Australia’s special envoy for the nation’s search efforts in Ukraine said inspections would resume once it was safe. Australian Air Chief Marshal Houston has further stated that while the first phase of the humanitarian mission had concluded, Australia was committed to honoring the victims of the doomed flight.

The announcement comes as Australians pause for a national day of mourning for the 38 citizens and residents killed when flight MH-17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all the 298 on board. Around 228 coffins have been returned to the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is to attend a national memorial service on Thursday for the victims in Melbourne, joined by the grieving families.

“Our purpose was to recover remains from the site. We did this swiftly and thoroughly, while it was safe to do so,” he said in a statement.

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