Shelling forces experts to leave part of MH17 crash site: OSCE

Armed pro-Russian separatists walk near the site where the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed, near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Aug 1, 2014. Shelling close to the vast crash site of downed fli
Armed pro-Russian separatists walk near the site where the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed, near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo) in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Aug 1, 2014. Shelling close to the vast crash site of downed flight MH17 forced international investigators on Saturday, Aug 2, 2014, to cut short a visit to an area where some of the jet's wreckage is lying, an OSCE observer with probe team said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

GRABOVE, Ukraine (AFP) - Shelling close to the vast crash site of downed flight MH17 forced international investigators on Saturday to cut short a visit to an area where some of the jet's wreckage is lying, an OSCE observer with probe team said.

"We heard at a distance of approximately two kilometres incoming artillery from where we were and that was too close to continue," said Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's mission in Ukraine.

Hug said the team had agreed earlier with both government forces and pro-Russian rebels to visit the village of Petropavlivka as part of the broader search operation.

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