MH17: Returning elite squad relates 'harrowing' trip through war zone with black boxes

SEPANG: It was a gut-wrenching experience for the 12-member Malaysian elite squad tasked with recovering the bodies and black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 aircraft in Ukraine.

Squad member Rosli Shaari, 50, said the nine-hour trip from the border of Donetsk to Karkhiv was a harrowing trip as they had to cross a war-ravaged region.

"We managed to secure the black boxes - the key to unravelling more details about MH17 - safely out of the war zone," he said when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), following the return of the MH17 special investigation team from Ukraine Saturday morning.

The Sapura Secured Technologies general manager said separatists only accompanied them to the border of Donetsk and after that, their lives were in the hands of the Ukrainian government.

"In a war zone at 3am (Ukraine time), anything is possible, and we made our way through mountains and forests in darkness," said Rosli who was also involved in a humanitarian operation in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

He and other members of the team, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Mohd Sakri Hussain, were relieved when the black boxes were safety handed over to the investigation party.

Rosli, who was the only civilian involved in the special mission to retrieve the black boxes, was assigned as a special operations communications officer.

Among his duties was to ensure smooth communication between the MH17 special investigation team and Ukraine.

"The system I brought and used is a GIRN (Government Integrated Radio Network) which is also used by 16 Malaysian Government agencies, as well as the operations room in Ukraine," he said.

On the treatment by the separatists during their discussion to hand over the black boxes, Rosli said they received their full cooperation.

"Although there was a language problem, an interpreter from the separatists was on hand to translate and things went on well," he said.

Sixty-five of the 116 members of the MH17 special investigation team to Ukraine arrived home from Amsterdam at 10.52am Saturday.

The team left on Malaysia on July 18, a day after the MH17 aircraft from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was believed to have been shot down in the Donetsk region.

The aircraft was carrying 298 passengers, including 43 Malaysians. - Bernama