Workers in Ukraine collect debris from downed Malaysia Airlines flight

Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine began to collect debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 yesterday, four months after the plane was brought down.

The operation is being carried out under the supervision of Dutch investigators and officials from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The recovered fragments will be loaded onto trains and ferried to the government-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The investigation into the cause of the crash is being conducted there and in the Netherlands.

Alexander Kostrubitsky, the head of the emergency services in rebel-held areas of Donetsk region, said the gathering of debris could take about 10 days. The debris was being sawn into smaller pieces to facilitate its transportation, Kostrubitsky said.

All 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when it was shot down on July 17 over a rebel-held area.

Investigations and recovery operations have been delayed amid continued fighting between government troops and separatist fighters, despite a September truce.

Ukraine and the West have blamed the downing of MH17 on Russia-backed separatists using a ground-to-air missile.