Nine months on, victims’ belongings still strewn across MH17 crash site
CHARRED and mangled, the belongings of passengers on doomed airliner MH17 litter the ground in Ukraine – nine months after it was shot out of the sky.
Burnt passports, books, sunglasses and jewellery are still lying among the wreckage, to the horror of relatives.
Bitter and angry, they are calling on Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop ‘obstructing’ access to the site months after the jet was downed by a missile.
Locals even insisted a woman’s foot was spotted recently and the ‘smell of death’ still hangs over the remains. But investigators are unable to get to the area to verify claims because of fighting between Ukraine f orces and Russianbacked separatists.
The site, in the unofficial Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), is now under the control of rebels loyal to Mr Putin. Safety fears mean officials are also unable to comb the debris for crucial evidence, as fears remain that Russia is concealing the identities of those who blasted the Malaysia Airlines jet in mid-air.
Last night the family of Briton Liam Sweeney called for investigators to have safe access so families could have the possessions of their loved ones returned.
The 28-year- old was one of 283 passengers who died when the Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit as it flew over rebel-held territory. He had been hoping to get to New Zealand with John Alder, 63, to see his beloved Newcastle United play in a pre-season tour.
His father Barry, 53, from Newcastle said: ‘It would be nice to get Liam’s passport back so we can put it in the memorabilia box for him. We will never forget him.’ He added: ‘We hope that one day everyone will get everything back so they can move on with their lives.’
One poignant remnant still lying among the wreckage is a partially burnt passport photograph of a wife and mother.
Former university lecturer Mabel Anthonysamy Soosai, who studied at the University of Essex, died along with her husband Paul Rajasingam Sivagnanam, 52, and their son Matthew, aged nine.
Speaking from Malaysia, her tearful brother Clement, 47, said: ‘It broke my heart to see her passport still in the debris. But you know, she is smiling a little in the picture, just as she smiled so often.’ Another family member, who asked not to be named, urged Mr Putin to ‘come clean’ so justice can be done.
‘This picture of Mabel still out in the wind and rain at the crash site reminds us it is a human tragedy but the authorities seem to forget this.’ Some 800 human fragments found at the site were sent to the Netherlands l ast month, but MailOnline reporters who visited last week found signs that much debris is yet to be recovered.
Alongside small parts from the plane – such as controllers from the in-flight entertainment system – there is also a woman’s bracelet, torn clothing and holiday memorabilia including a magnet and a souvenir shot glass.
Senior officials in the villages near the site say the ‘smell of death remains’ and that they are helping the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to gather remains. A sign in Russian
‘Left out in the wind and rain’
nearby warns: ‘ Don’t enter! There might be the body parts of the air crash victims left.’
Other notices ask villagers to contact investigators if they find ‘human remains’ or ‘personal belongings’.
A senior DPR official Denys Pushylin insisted he had received no requests from foreign authorities to collect any small items of debris, but claimed that cordons around the wreckage had been removed.