Estonia stands ready to send an expert team to help identify victims of airplane catastrophe, on location, in Eastern Ukraine.
Estonia offers help identifying plane crash victims
21st July 2014, 11:38
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According to foreign minister Urmas Paet, Estonian police has offered help with its experts. «We are enquiring of Holland and of OSCE if our assistance is needed,» Mr Paet wrote via Twitter, on Saturday.
Police Major Priit Pärkna, of Police and Border Guard , confirmed to Postimees that they have let Interpol know of Estonia’s expert team being in readiness to help. The team consist of five officials from natural disaster and catastrophe victim identification unit, and two experts from Estonian Forensic Science Institute.
«We think that with events of such severe consequences, fast, prompt and quality work on scene of accident, and identifying the victims, is top priority. Should our help be needed, our team is ready to depart at first opportunity,» he said.
Experts of Police and Border Guard Board’s natural disaster and catastrophe victim identification unit have, for instance, assisted in the natural disaster area in Phuket, Thailand, in 2005.
A Boeing 777 owned by Malaysia Airlines, travelling via international flight corridor and on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down in the Eastern part of Ukraine, in Donetsk Oblast at Hrabove Village, Thursday afternoon. The crash took the lives of 283 passengers and 15 members of the crew.