MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) – Bodies of 251 victims and 66 body fragments have been retrieved from the crash site of the Malaysian aircraft in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said Monday.
On Sunday, 196 bodies were reported found. Later in the day 27 more bodies were recovered, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
“As of 7:00 a.m. [04:00 GMT] July 21, 251 bodies and 66 body fragments have been discovered and transported to refrigerator cars at the Torez railway station,” he said.
Search parties have combed though an area of 120 square kilometers around the plane crash site.
Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers on board the Boeing 777 died, of them 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Ukrainian authorities points the blame at independence supporters in the country’s eastern regions, while the latter claim they do not have the means to shoot down a plane flying that high.
Commenting on the crash on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was vital to abstain from hasty conclusions on the case before the international investigation was over.
The United Nations Security Council late on Sunday night completed the text of its resolution regarding the Malaysia Airlines crash and will vote on its adoption Monday afternoon.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that Russia would support the UN Security Council resolution demanding an unbiased investigation of the plane crash.
