International Monitors Attempting to Secure Crash Site

HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) -- International monitors moved gingerly Saturday through fields reeking of the decomposing corpses of the victims of a Malaysian airliner shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine, trying to secure the sprawling site in hopes that a credible investigation of the disaster can be conducted.

The crash that killed all 298 people aboard the plane two days earlier intensified the already-high animosity on all sides of the conflict.

The Ukrainian government and separatist rebels accuse each other of shooting down the Boeing 777 with a surface-to-air missile. Many see the hand of Russia, either for its alleged support of the insurgents or perhaps firing the missile itself. The crash site is near the Russian border.

Amid wide calls for an international investigation, doubts arose about whether the evidence was being compromised before inspectors ever reach the scene.