Shock turned to fury in the Netherlands at the weekend as prime minister Mark Rutte branded as "disgusting" pictures of dead passengers and their belongings strewn around the MH17 crash site, and called for a swift and united hardening of the European Union's stance against Russia.
The normally measured Mr Rutte had what he said was a "very intense and personal" telephone call with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, after which he said Russia's president had "once last chance" to exert his influence over pro-Russian separatists controlling the site in eastern Ukraine.
Images of rebels scouring the wreckage, particularly one of a rebel leader holding aloft a child's soft toy, were "too disgusting for words", Mr Rutte said after a round of "candid" talks with Mr Putin, German chancellor Angela Merkel, British prime minister David Cameron and Australian prime minister Tony Abbott.
“I told [Mr Putin]: ‘Time is running out for you to show that you have good intentions, to do what the world expects you to do and to exert your influence over the rebels,’” said Mr Rutte.
“I pointed out that it was 35 degrees at the crash site and that the bodies need to be recovered now. I want to see results: unhindered access and the repatriation of the victims.”
Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans flew to Kiev to meet Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, describing the Dutch public as "angry, furious" at reports of "bodies being dragged around the crash site" and of the crime scene being compromised. One first-hand report described "a toddler", covered only by a sheet, still lying untended on Saturday evening, with a bunch of sunflowers left by a local person beside her body.
“We will not stop until we have justice . . . and not just the people who pulled the trigger but also those who made it possible,” said Mr Timmermans.
DNA samples
As the Dutch death toll increased to 193, a team of 80 detectives
began visiting the homes of those who died, gathering samples of DNA and fingerprints and asking about distinguishing scars or tattoos – the first step in what could be a long process of identification.
Plans by Malaysia Airlines to fly relatives of the dead from Schiphol to Kiev, and perhaps on to the crash scene, have been put on hold, said the airline’s commercial director, Hugh Dunleavy, because it was still “too dangerous”.
Inside Schiphol, at desk 29 where the HM17 passengers checked in on Thursday, there is an impromptu memorial piled with flowers and cards.
In Hilversum, southeast of Amsterdam, for instance, the entire Smallenburg family – Charles, his wife, Therese, their daughter, Carlijn, and son, Werther – was wiped out.
The website of the soccer club they followed said simply: “We wish everyone the strength they need to cope with this terrible loss.”
