TEMPO.CO, Torez - After previously being reluctant to give access, pro-Russian rebels have finally handed over all of the victims' bodies and black boxes from the Boeing 777 MH17 Malaysia Airlines plane that was downed over eastern Ukraine.
The rebels handed over all the bodies and the black boxes over to Malaysian officials after going through a tough negotiation process.
"Here they are, the black boxes," said Alexander Borodai at the headquarters of his self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Reuters reported yesterday.
Borodai gave the data recorders recovered from the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to a delegation from Malaysia in the city of Donetsk in the early hours of Tuesday, July 22, 2014.
Col. Mohamed of the Malaysian National Security Council said in the meeting that the two black boxes were "in good condition."
The handing over of the 298 bodies and the two black boxes was done after the United Nations Security Council agreed to a resolution. The resolution, which was made by Australia and agreed upon by all members of the UN Security Council, urges members of the Security Council to work together to assist the investigation of MH17 and force the rebels to give full access to any information to support the search and rescue attempt.
USA TODAY | REUTERS | MARIA RITA