Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia says the MH17 black boxes they received from pro-Russian separatists appear not to have been tampered with, raising hopes the recorders will prove what happened to the plane with 298 people on board.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement the cockpit recording and flight data devices that were handed to Malaysian officials in the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Tuesday “appear to be in good condition”.
He said they will be held securely in Malaysian custody while an international investigation team is formalised.
“At that time we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team for further analysis,” he said.
Mr Najib held a series of secret talks with the separatists to broker an agreement for the return of the bodies, the handover of the boxes and a promise of safe passage for investigators and recovery teams going to the crash site in eastern Ukraine.
The agreement is seen as a diplomatic coup by Malaysia that other more powerful countries, including Russia, had been unable to negotiate.
While negotiating the deal, Mr Najib refrained from accusing the separatists of shooting down the plane last Thursday.
“So far the agreement has been honoured," Mr Najib said.
“Malaysia requests that this co-operation continue and that investigators are granted the full access to the site which was agreed,” he said.
“I am relieved that we have been able to secure the breakthrough that has allowed us to move forward.”
