Sebastian MartinezThe first group of bodies from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash left Kharkiv in Ukraine for the Netherlands Wednesday morning, almost a week after the flight was downed in eastern Ukraine. (Via Getty Images)
The bodies were taken on two military transport planes from the city of Kharkiv to Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, which observed a day of mourning on Wednesday. (Via Getty Images, The Guardian)
With families of the victims, and the Dutch king and queen on hand to receive the bodies, some outlets predicted closure.
"Today, they're getting their respect of coming home, the long process of identifying them, giving some closure to their families." (Via CNN)
But, as the BBC reports, only 40 of the bodies would arrive in the Netherlands Wednesday of the 200 total that have been recovered, which leaves nearly a third of the victims unaccounted for.
"Families will wait alongside the Dutch King and Queen: none of them will know whether the coffins will contain their relatives." (Via BBC)
And, according to CNN, there have been conflicting reports on the number of bodies recovered, with Malaysian and Ukranian officials counting 282 corpses, but "Dutch investigators only confirmed there were at least 200."
Also arriving in Europe Wednesday were the plane's black boxes. (Via ITV)
As The Independent reports, the flight recorders will be examined by experts from the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, as requested by the Dutch government.
Fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, with Ukranian officials reporting two of their jets shot down by an air-defense system near the Russian border on Wednesday. (Via CNN)
The bodies of the victims will be taken to a military barracks where work to identify them could take months, according to the Dutch prime minister.
