Black boxes handed over to Malaysian investigators

Ukrainian anti-government activists have handed over both black boxes from Flight MH17 to Malaysian investigators.

Ukrainian anti-government activists have handed over both black boxes from Flight MH17 to Malaysian investigators. This comes five days after the passenger jet was downed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard.

It's a significant step forward for the ongoing investigation. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder could provide key information about what happened to the plane.

Activist-leader Alexander Borodai said, during the handover, that they had done their best to retrieve bodies and handle the wreckage at the crash site. He also denied accusations that it was activists who shot down the plane.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak announced early on Tuesday that the activists have agreed to give independent international investigators safe access to the crash site.

While the remains of 282 of the crash victims were being moved by train from the eastern Ukrainian city of Torez to Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. From there, they will be flown to Amsterdam on a Dutch military plane, and handed over to Dutch authorities.