DONETSK: A train carrying the bodies of those killed in downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 left a railway station in the rebel-held town of Torez, in eastern Ukraine, on Monday after the Malaysian prime minister spoke to the leader of pro-Russia rebels by phone.

The refrigerated wagons carrying some 282 bodies were headed to the Ukraine government-controlled city of Kharkiv, where international experts will receive the bodies.

The remains will then be flown to Amsterdam on board a Dutch C130 Hercules military aircraft, together with six members of the Malaysian team who will be on the train.

After forensic work has been completed, the remains of Malaysian citizens will then be flown to Malaysia.

Prime Minister Najib Razak told a news conference late on Monday night that Aleksander Borodai, leader of the separatist group in eastern Ukraine, had also agreed to hand over the two black boxes from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, which crashed in Ukraine on July 17 with 298 people on board.

Independent international investigators have also been guaranteed safe access to the crash site to begin a full investigation, he added.

“In recent days, we have been working behind the scenes to establish contact with those in charge of the MH17 crash site. That contact has now been made,” Mr Razak said in a televised speech.

“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.”

“I must stress that although agreement has been reached, there remain a number of steps required before it is completed,” said Razak.

“There is work still to be done, work which relies on continued communication in good faith. Mr Borodai and his people have so far given their cooperation.”

Once this is done, the investigation can “truly begin”, he added, so that “justice may be done”.

“In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel. And that I feel. But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome,” said the Malaysian prime minister.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2014