INTERPOL to assist in investigation following Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine

Special: Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in Ukraine

LYON, France – INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble has offered the world police body’s full assistance in the investigation and disaster victim identification efforts following the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.

Following reports that Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 carrying 295 passengers and crew had crashed near the Russian border, INTERPOL’s 24-hour Command and Coordination Centre (CCC) immediately contacted the National Central Bureaus in The Hague, Kiev and Kuala Lumpur to offer the organization’s support.“

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those on board flight MH17, and INTERPOL has offered its full assistance to all relevant member countries to help identify and repatriate their remains with dignity to their home countries,” said Secretary General Noble.“Following each and every tragedy, we owe it to those whose lives were lost to find out what went wrong and to do all in our power to prevent it from happening again.

“In this regard, we will also work to help determine whether any of those on flight MH17 boarded the flight using a passport which had been reported lost or stolen to INTERPOL and whether any of those were linked to serious criminal conduct,” concluded Secretary General Noble.

If requested, INTERPOL can deploy an Incident Response Team (IRT) which could include disaster victim identification (DVI) experts to provide on-site investigative and analytical support in coordination with the General Secretariat.

INTERPOL IRTs and DVI teams have been deployed around the world in response to serious crimes and both man-made and natural disasters including the 2004 Asian tsunami, the Westgate Mall terror attack in Kenya, the Haiti earthquake, the Air France AF447 plane tragedy and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.