Identifying MH17 victims could take several months

AUTHORITIES identifying the victims of MH17 say it is still too early to know how many have been recovered.

A TOTAL of 227 coffins have been returned to The Netherlands but authorities identifying the victims of MH17 say it is still too early to know how many of the 298 passengers have been recovered.

The harrowing task of identifying all the victims will take “weeks and months”.

Early estimates suggested that only about 200 of the 298 bodies had been recovered from war-torn eastern Ukraine and officials fear some may never be identified.

A team of 200 international disaster victim identification experts is working on the process and so far has identified one body — a Dutch male, whose family has been notified.

Detective Inspector Howard Way from the British police said the process would be a long one.

Speaking at Hilversum military base, outside Amsterdam, Inspector Way said it was still too early to say exactly how many of the victims had been returned to The Netherlands.

“The bodies have suffered trauma, the human remains have suffered trauma,’’ he said.

Teams at the crash site, near Donetsk, have reportedly seen more bodies, which have now lain in the sun and elements for 12 days.

An Australian Federal Police official in Amsterdam who is also working on the identification says this will hamper the identification process.

Inspector Way expected more identifications to be made in the coming weeks but warned that it was going to a long, meticulous and slow process.

“I think the identification will be very slow at first and then we hope that they will pick up pace as the operation progresses,” he said.

“This will take weeks and months. If it is rushed, that’s when mistakes are made and we are not going to make any mistakes.’’

Interpol protocols are being used and once a body is identified, a commission is convened to verify the results.

The first commission hearing was held last Friday before a board of five people, when the Dutch nat­ional was formally identified. His name has not been released.

Inspector Way said the first case had been identified through one of three primary identifiers — DNA, dental records or fingerprints — but did not specify which.

Five lines of identification experts are working at Hilversum base, which includes a temporary mortuary inside a military building. The experts are recording clothing, property and personal effects, charting X-rays and teeth, taking fingerprints and recording markings and scars.

Australia has 38 specialists working on MH17 — 19 in The Netherlands and 19 in Ukraine.