Second wave of planes carrying flight MH17 bodies from Ukraine arrives in the Netherlands

The bodies of more victims from flight MH17 arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday as the US said Russia intends to deliver heavier and more powerful rocket launchers to separatist forces in Ukraine

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A convoy of funeral hearses carrying the remains of the victims of the MH17 plane crash is driven from the airbase in Eindhoven to Hilversum, the Netherlands, on Thursday. Two more planes carrying bodies are scheduled to arrive on Friday. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:45am, 25 Jul 2014Updated: 5:33pm, 25 Jul 2014

Two more military aircraft carrying remains of victims from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday, while Australian and Dutch diplomats joined to promote a plan for a UN team to secure the crash site, which has been controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Human remains continue to be found a full week after the plane went down, underlining concerns about the halting and chaotic recovery effort at the sprawling site spread across farmland in eastern Ukraine. Armed separatists control the area and have hindered access by investigators.

We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to separatist forces in Ukraine

US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf

All 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 – most of them Dutch citizens – were killed when the plane was shot down on July 17. US officials say the Boeing 777 was probably shot down by a missile from territory held by pro-Russian rebels, probably by accident.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who says he fears some remains will never be recovered unless security is tightened, has proposed a multinational force mounted by countries such as Australia, the Netherlands and Malaysia that lost citizens in the disaster. Abbott said on Thursday he had dispatched 50 police officers to London to be ready to join any organisation that may result.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was travelling with her Dutch counterpart Frans Timmermans to Kiev to seek an agreement with the Ukraine government to allow international police to secure the wreckage, Abbott said.

Details, including which countries would contribute and whether officers would be armed and protected by international troops, were yet to be agreed, Abbott said.