Home Minister Ahmad Zahid sees off Malaysian police team in Kiev

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has seen off a team of 68 Malaysian policemen who left the Ukrainian capital of Kiev by train for Kharkiv en route to the Donetsk region crash site of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17.

He was at the railway station in Kiev on Saturday to see off the policemen who were led by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Abu Bakar.

The policemen, who had flown to Ukraine last Wednesday, will join an international team of security forces, including from the Netherlands and Australia, to assist in the investigation into the Flight MH17 disaster of July 17.

They will be on the train to Kharkiv, about 500km from Kiev, before proceeding to Soledar, about 100km from the crash site.

In a video recording sent to Bernama, Ahmad Zahid asked Malaysians to pray for the safety of the Malaysian policemen.

"I ask our friends and Malaysians to pray for us from the Home Ministry and the Royal Malaysia Police so that we can discharge our duty safely at the incident site in Ukraine.

"And, for us to return safely after having completed our task. We pray that everything will be in our favour," he said in the recording made at Kiev.

The Malaysian investigation team in Ukraine comprises police forensic officers, a Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) and medical officers.

Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.