The refrigerated train carrying the remains of those killed aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has reached the government-controlled city of Kharkiv, finishing the first part of a journey out of the conflict zone where they have been stuck for days. WSJ's Margaret Coker reports. (Photo: Getty Images)
A PRIORITY air corridor between Kharkiv in Ukraine and Eindhoven in The Netherlands will begin on Wednesday as Operation Bring Them Home swings into action.
The remains of Australia's 36 victims and the remaining passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will be prepared in Kharkiv overnight as Dutch investigators led the process of organising transport into the Dutch military base near Eindhoven.
The first flight of bodies will fly into Holland sometime around lunchtime AEST, the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte announced.
Standing guard ... Police officers secure the refrigerated train loaded with bodies of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 as it arrives in a Kharkiv factory. Picture: AP Source: AP
"Recovery of our people remains our first priority,'' said Mr Rutte.
"That is our aim and it is expected that (Wednesday) in the course of the day the first plane with victims arrives in Eindhoven. We will continue until all the victims are at home."
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The relatives of the families were all informed by personal phone calls of the arrangements being made.The bodies will be transported using an Australian plane, a Boeing C-17 as well as a Dutch C-130.
Grim ... A Malaysian air crash investigator takes pictures of wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine. Picture: AP Source: AP
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Mr Rutte said that as soon as any bodies are identified the next of kin will be advised, and the remains will be released into their care as soon as it is practical to do so.
But he warned some of the bodies may take months to be identified.
He also cautioned that some of the bodies may not be able to be returned.
World mourns ... woman lights candles for the victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday. Picture: AP Source: AP
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Mr Rutte also warned that the number of bodies on the train quoted by the rebels — 282 — may not be accurate.
It could be that around 200 bodies were on the trucks, he said.
The airlift of the bodies involves a shuttle of the planes "in a air corridor between Kharkiv and Einhoven,'' he told reporters.
"They will come in phases.''
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From Eindhoven, the victims will be transferred to the military base at Corporal Van Oudheusden Barracks in Hilversum.
This is the same town where the Dutch lost three entire families and the son of a fourth in the plane tragedy.
Tragic journey ... Police officers secure a refrigerated train loaded with bodies of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17. Picture: AP Source: AP
Australian forensic experts, including the team from the Victorian Institute of Forensive Medicine, led by Professor David Ranson will arrive in Amsterdam on Wednesday and will go straight to Hilversum.
The team will also include mortuary technicians, odontologists and fingerprint experts.
Relatives of the Australian victims have already provided police with DNA and other personal information about their loved ones which will also be used to help the identiciation process.
Professor Ranson said the work will be similar to identifying victims of the Victorian bushfires or the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
In memory ... Two KLM cabin crew reach out into a sea of flowers at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Picture: AP Source: AP
But the state of the bodies, which had laid in the hot Ukraine sun for nearly two days before being refrigerated, would not have helped stave off the decomposition.
The bodies of the Australian victims will ultimately be handed to a funeral contractor who will prepare them for the long journey home in specially iced caskets inside the cargo hold of the RAAF's biggest aircraft.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the task could take weeks and he did not rule out Australian involvement in a security operation around the crash site.
The United Nations Resolution authorises the presence of security elements on the ground and Mr Abbott said it should include countries whose citizens were killed and he again demanded that the site be secured.
Families waiting ... Police officers secure a refrigerated train loaded with bodies of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 as it arrives in the Kharkiv railway station. Picture: AP Source: AP
'It looks more like a building demolition than a forensic investigation,' he said.
Mr Abbott said there was a ceasefire in place around the crash site and that would help investigators to do their work.
'I am much more optimistic today than I was yesterday,' he said.
Mr Abbott said he hoped the co-ordinator of Operation Bring Them Home, former defence boss Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, could visit the site as soon as possible.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the UN Security Council's unanimous adoption of Australia's strongly worded resolution sounded a warning to the pro-Russian separatists not to further contaminate the site or hamper investigators.
Sombre ... People attend a candlelight vigil to remember delegates who lost their lives on-board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route to the AIDS Conference 2014, at Federation Square in Melbourne. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
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