33 - MH17: Under the Barrier Tape - 18 Months in the Netherlands

On 17th July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. It remains the deadliest aircraft shoot-down in history and led to the largest Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operation ever conducted in the Netherlands.

Twelve years on, we reflect on our first disaster deployment and the 18 months we spent in the Netherlands supporting the response that followed.

This isn't a retelling of MH17. Instead, we're taking you behind the scenes to share the work that continued long after the world's headlines had faded.

From helping to establish the personal effects operation, to supporting bereaved families, we share what it was really like to work as part of a response of this scale. We discuss why the recovery became so politically and logistically complex, how an empty airport hangar became the centre of the personal effects operation before eventually falling silent once more, the unforgettable experience of witnessing a mass repatriation as coffins draped in flags prepare to be returned home, and why something as simple as a plain black comb could mean more to a grieving family than almost anything else.

We also bring you up to date with where the legal proceedings against Russia stand today, more than a decade on.

Join us as we take you back under the barrier tape to explore a side of disaster response that is rarely talked about.

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