Estonia offers to send experts to Malaysia Airlines crash site

Estonia has offered to send experts to Ukraine to help identify victims of the Malaysian Airlines crash that killed all 298 people on board, Public Broadcasting reports.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said Estonian Police had offered its expert assistance in the form of disaster victim identification.

"We are asking from the Netherlands and the OSCE if help is needed," Paet wrote on his twitter account.

Major Priit Pärkna of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board added: "We informed Interpol that a team of seven experts from Estonia is ready to assist in the identification of victims in Ukraine."

"We think that in case of incidents with such severe consequences, the primary concern is as fast as possible high-quality work at the scene and in identification of victims. If there is need for our help, the team is ready to take off as soon as possible," added Pärkna. 

The team consists of five police officers of the DVI unit (disaster and catastrophe victims' identification unit) and two experts from the Estonian Forensic Science Institute.

A Malaysian passenger plane crashed in the Eastern part of Ukraine on Thursday, believed to be shot down by Ukrainian separatists. An international investigation has been launched in to the causes of the crash.