Train Filled With Bodies of MH17 Passengers Departs Crash Site

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A pro-Russia rebel guards a train containing the bodies of victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 crash on July 21, 2014 in Torez, Ukraine.

Image: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

By Christopher Miller & Brian Ries2014-07-21 16:49:29 UTC

TOREZ, Ukraine — At 7 p.m. local time, the trains loaded with the bodies of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 passengers pulled away from the Torez station, leaving behind a pile of possessions on the platform.

As it trundled off, two Ukrainian fighter jets roared overhead, releasing two rockets that struck a hill mere miles from the station as fighting continues between rebel militia and Ukrainian forces.

Moments earlier, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that a deal had been reached to send the bodies home.

"In recent days, we have been working behind the scenes to establish contact with those in charge of the MH17 crash site," Razak said Monday night as Malaysian investigators arrived in eastern Ukraine.

"That contact has now been made," he said. "Under difficult and fluid circumstances, we have been discussing the problems that have occupied us all: securing vital evidence from the aircraft, launching an independent investigation, and above all recovering the remains of those who lost their lives."

Razak said the deal had been reached with Alexander Borodai, a rebel commander, to move the bodies to Kharkiv, Ukraine, where they would then be handed over to representatives of the Netherlands and flown home to Amsterdam on a Dutch C130 Hercules. Six Malaysian members of the recovery team are accompanying the bodies to Kharkiv.

However an Associated Press reporter who saw the train leave from Torez, overheard armed separatists saying it was heading for the rebel-held town of Ilovaysk. There was no official confirmation of that destination from the rebels.

The Malaysia PM also said Borodai agreed to hand over the plane's black boxes to the Malaysia team later on Monday.

This story is developing...

Topics: Malaysia Airlines, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine, Ukraine , US & World, World