MISTAKES IN DUTCH SEARCH FOR VICTIMS
Jeroen Akkermans, RTL Nieuws reports:
http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/fouten-bij-nederlandse-zoektocht-slachtoffers-mh17
Translation:
The Ukrainian commander who was in charge of the recovery of victims of the disaster flight MH17 during the first five days has never spoken with the Dutch mission in the area. This according to research by RTL Nieuws.
RTL Nieuws spoke for the first time with two colonels of the Ukrainian rescue about their salvage work immediately after the disaster. These interviews show that the Dutch mission itself went searching without having possession of important information about the Ukrainian search.
On July 17 at the end of the day, Colonel Alexei Migrin of Emergency Services of the Donetsk region was the man who coordinated the salvage work of the bodies. "I was the leader of the salvage operation," says Migrin. For five days he sent rescue workers, miners and volunteers who went to search for the bodies of victims of the plane crash.
The Fire Marshal of Torez, Sergei Michenko, was one of the first on the scene at the crash site. He was the operational leader of a team of rescue workers that went looking for bodies near Rozsypne. More than two weeks after the disaster he spoke
once with two Dutch policemen, for about an hour.
That conversation proved extremely difficult, says Michenko because the Dutch had arranged. a poor interpreter Also, he was not well prepared for the interview because he thought he had a meeting with representatives of the OSCE.
Prime Minister Rutte promised on July 18 that "no stone would be left unturned". But the lack of communication with the Ukrainians has had consequences for the Dutch mission
The two Ukrainian commanders say that their units have combed the disaster area in the first five days after the disaster. "Some areas we searched 3 to 4 times to make sure that there were no physical remains left behind." The Dutch mission then extensively searched but found little physical remains.
In the Dutch Parliament it was reported that there has been searched by the Ukrainians with 800 people. In documents that RTL Nieuws has received, it is shows that on only one afternoon a search took place with such a large group.
Shortly after the disaster various numbers of victims salvaged circulated.
Migrin says he was ready on July 21: 282 bodies and 87 body parts have been taken away, according to him. But he never spoke about this with the Dutch.
Colonel Migrin says that documents were attached to each body, including information about the the location of the body. However, the Dutch authorities have not been in conatact with him about this.
"I've not talked about this with anyone. You're the first," he told RTL News correspondent Jeroen Akkermans. "No one has interviewed me until today. I have not shared any information. No information was required of me."
There were also maps that the Ukrainian used the first few days for the search of the area. "All the documents we have worked with the maps, all schematics, are with us at our regional staff. If necessary, we can make them available and show them."
RTL Nieuws asked Migrin about the available documents. He then referred us Aleksei Kostrubitsky, administrator of the emergency services. RTL Nieuws received a letter from Kostrubitsky, that arrived in his hands on August 30. In this letter, the Dutch embassy thanks the Ukrainians for their work and a request is made for the search plan that Ukrainians have used the first few days.
In a reaction, the Dutch National Police tells RTL Nieuws: "We do not name any contacts (identifiable or not) that we have spoken in Ukraine. We collaborate well with all the stakeholders (search plan, statement of facts, maps) and have a lot of respect for the way work was done there. The search plan mentioned is in our possession. "
BBM
