DONETSK, Ukraine - The remains of some of the nearly 300 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine were making their way to the Netherlands on Tuesday. A train carrying around 200 body bags traveled to rebel-held Donetsk before arriving in Kharkiv, which is in Ukrainian government hands. The human remains will next be taken to the Netherlands to be identified. Two-thirds of the 298 victims of Thursday's disaster were Dutch.
The train departed after the Malaysian prime minister reached agreement with the pro-Russia fighters for recovered bodies to be handed over. Early on Tuesday, separatist leader Alexander Borodai also surrendered the black boxes in Donetsk. Colonel Mohamed Sakri of the Malaysian National Security Council said the two devices from MH17 were "in good condition." Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said there had been some improvement in terms of access to the crash scene for investigators. "But there's still a hell of a long way to go before anyone could be satisfied with the way that site is being treated," he added.
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