MH17 work halted amid fighting November 9, 2014 - 1:09AM Recovery and investigative work at the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine has been halted because of fighting between the government and pro-Russian separatists despite a September ceasefire. The stoppage was announced on Saturday after the recovery work had only resumed this week. More remains of the victims of the July 17 crash have been found since then, and Igor Baluta, head of the regional administration, said five more coffins are to fly to the Netherlands Saturday. All 298 people on board the passenger jet, including 38 Australian citizens and residents, died in the crash. Initial investigations indicate that the Boeing 777 was shot down, but who was responsible is not known. Most of the victims were Dutch, and the Netherlands is leading the inquiry. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said on Saturday in Kharkiv, Ukraine, that nine of the victims have yet to be identified. Further work on the ground depends on the security situation in the area, he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that the ceasefire was not being fully observed and said the government in Kiev must fulfil the steps agreed to in a peace plan for eastern Ukraine. He made the remarks in Beijing after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry. The relations between their countries have soured over the Ukraine conflict, in which more than 3600 people have been killed since it began in April.