Malaysia gains access to MH17 crash site

An agreement has been reached with Ukraine for police to access the MH17 crash site.

A picture taken on 17 July 2014 shows wreckages of theMmalaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed near the town of Shaktarsk in rebel-held east Ukraine. Picture: AFP.

CNN & Reuters | 2690 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has secured an agreement with Ukrainian rebels, to allow international police personnel to enter the crash site of downed flight MH17.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says police will be allowed to enter the area in strife-torn Eastern Ukraine, to provide protection for international crash investigators.

Malaysia will work closely with the Netherlands and Australia, who will also deploy their own unarmed police personnel to the site.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, carrying 298 people, went down over Eastern Ukraine on 17 July.

Concerns have been raised about the vulnerability of the police officers in the conflict strife area.

CNN' Tom Fuentes says, "The idea that 40, 50 or hundreds of police officers, even if they have their side arms with them, are going to stand up to these rebels with AK47s, with rockets, launchers and missiles… It's really going to be a question of what do the rebels allow and if they'll even let them in."

Malaysia's Prime Minister said on Sunday that an agreement had been reached with separatists in Ukraine to give international police access to the site where the Malaysian plane was downed and enable investigators to determine why the aircraft crashed.

Watch: Flight MH17: Investigation hampered

A statement issued by Najib Razak's office said the agreement with separatist leader Aleksander Borodai would "provide protection for international crash investigators" to recover human remains and ascertain the cause of the crash.

"I hope that this agreement with Mr Borodai will ensure security on the ground so the international investigators can conduct their work," Najib said in the statement.