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Kiev: Grieving relatives of the MH17 crash victims have had chilling confirmation that their loved ones' possessions have been looted from the crash site.
Relatives of victims in the Netherlands dialled the mobile phone numbers of crash victims and said the phones were answered by people with ‘eastern European-sounding voices’, the Netherlands' De Telegraaf reported.
The relatives were shocked when they heard the voices, the paper said.
Telephone companies agreed to waive the usual requirement for a death certificate and agreed to cancel the phone subscriptions, so those who took the phones could not continue to use them.
There have been several reports of looting at the crash site, which spreads over more than 50 square kilometres and has not been secured because it is in separatist-controlled territory.
Anyone with the right accreditation, obtained from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, can roam the site under the watch of the militia.
Journalists who examined the scene said there was a notable lack of items such as phones, wallets, cameras and jewellery.
Some footage shot at the scene appears to show one militant taking a ring and putting it in a paper bag.
Ukraine has also accused local militants of stealing diplomatic papers carried on the flight.