Rebels take control of 219 bodies recovered from MH17 debris

Pro-Moscow insurgents today took control of the 219 bodies recovered so far from the debris of the downed Malaysian jet, even as global pressure mounted on Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure unfettered access to the crash site in Ukraine's rebel-held region.
A total of 192 bodies and eight body fragments had been loaded onto a refrigerated train stationed in the town of Torez near the crash site, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Emergency workers retrieved 27 more bodies from the crash site later, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 298 people was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as it was downed on Thursday between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.

It is believed that flight MH17 crashed after being hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from the rebel-held area. All 298 people on board were killed.
Earlier, reports said the train had left Torez for Donetsk but later it emerged that it was still stationed at Torez.

Pro-Russia separatists are keeping the remains of 192 of those MH17 victims in refrigerated cars on a train, Groysman said, adding that talks are ongoing for their release.
"Jet parts resembling the black boxes were discovered at the crash site," said Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
The parts would be handed over to "international experts if they arrive", he said.

Borodai said the fighters had moved scores of bodies "out of respect for the families" and loaded them on to trains where they would be kept in refrigerated carriages until "the experts arrive".
"We couldn't wait any longer because of the heat and also because there are many dogs and wild animals in the zone," he said.
European countries and the US again warned Russia to ensure rescuers and investigators have full and unfettered access to the crash site in rebel-held eastern Ukraine or face further sanctions.
"There's a stacking up of evidence here, which Russia needs to help account for. We are not drawing the final conclusion here. But there is a lot that points at the need for Russia to be responsible," US Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC News.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed today to demand that Putin force separatists controlling the site to "finally allow rescuers and investigators to have free and total access to the zone."
A statement from Hollande's office said if Russia fails "to immediately take the needed measures, consequence will be drawn" at an EU foreign ministers meeting Tuesday.
The Ukrainian government and pro-Moscow rebels have been trading blame for the downing of the airliner.