Special: Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in Ukraine

WELLINGTON -- Three New Zealand police specialists in identifying disaster victims are to join international efforts to identify all 298 victims of crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Thursday.

The three disaster victim identification (DVI) experts left for the Netherlands on Thursday to help with the task as bodies were repatriated from the crash site in the Ukraine, McCully said in a statement.

"New Zealand is encouraged that a process is under way to repatriate many of the bodies from the crash site to the Netherlands, and that the aircraft's flight data recorders are now in safe custody," McCully said.

"But much remains to be done. The crash site must be properly secured, with unimpeded access for the appropriate international investigating authorities."

The New Zealand Police had internationally recognized disaster identification expertise, having responded to other tragedies such as the Christchurch earthquake and the Asian tsunami, said McCully.