unrwa, are having a hard time of it right now. >> absolutely right. you make a very good point. the back drop against which you must see this emergency work that unrwa is doing for 50,000 people in 43 of our installations we've made available, is absolutely despera desperate. we have seen the public infrastructure, water, being damaged, pipes that are taking water to the installations. we've seen electricity being damaged. electricity installations being damaged and destroyed. even before this terrible upsurge in violence we had seen 95% of gaza without 95% of the water in gaza not safe to drink. millions of liters of raw sewage flowing into the sea every day. we estimated just a few days ago in the u.n. that there were 25,000 children to pick up on the theme of your earlier

report, 25,000 children deep in trauma. we need psychosocial counselors to deal with these terrible problems. but, of course, that has to be paid for. so, yes, unrwa stands ready. i think the last few days -- >> all right. >> just to say we have a track record and we continue leading the response. >> thanks very much. quick break on cnn. we'll be right back.

let's get you up to speed on our continuing coverage of the downing of malaysian airlines

flight 17. a team of special investigators from malaysia has now arrived in ukraine's capital kiev, hoping to begin the process of hoping to find out just what happened to the jem jumbo jet. international monitors from europe say they will try again today to visit the site where the plane crashed. the osce members say they were met with some hostility from the pro-russia rebels and not given access to the full site on friday. let's bring in david deas once again, former spokesperson for international air accidents. thanks for being with us. let me ask you this because people have wondered since this crash happened a couple of days ago, who decides whether or not a route is safe over a conflict area? >> it's normally by the international aviation organizations who would make an assessment. and i think up to now, it has been thought that even if there was a danger on the ground, an aircraft at 33,000 feet was

probably safe. but now it appears the type of ground-to-air missile that can reach that altitude may be in the hands of people who have evil intent, one might say. the whole structure of civil aviation routing may have to be looked at. >> right. because it's not just this conflict area, it's others. people might think twice now about boarding a plane that flies over a war zone, essentially. >> yeah. well, all the routes to the middle east, the southeast asia, tend to cross a number of countries where things are a bit unstable. there have been civilian flights over afghanistan throughout the problems in afghanistan but nothing has happened to them. so, there's a sort of almost lullying into a false sense of security. it may well be the whole business of international routing will have to be looked at. that will impinge on costs

because if you take a longer route, means more fuel, more weight in the aircraft, more expense. so, there could be serious repercussions. >> let's talk about the site itself. what should have been done by now that may not have been performed on the scene because accident investigators, officials, haven't been able to fully access the site? >> the site should have been secured by some sort of law enforcement agency. that is what normally would happen. i'm not quite clear the status of the people who have been going there is, to say they can't get any further. i don't think it's the actual investigating team. it may be -- >> the team from osce, so not accident investigators. they haven't made it there, it appears. >> when the actual investigators get there, that will be the proof of whether there is a hostile reception or not. and i am not quite sure how the structure -- the investigation is going to be structured. it would normally be the state

of where the accident happened, but they can call in expertise from any country they wish. and i believe there is a party from britain, air accident investigation team, arriving there today. but quite what nail be able to do when they get there and whether they'll be able to do it safely, because obviously you don't want to put aviation experts into an unstable area where their own lives are at risk. >> i wanted to tell our viewers what they're seeing there is the team from osce, its spokesperson told us yesterday they did not have full access to the site, but the osce is not in the business of investigating plane crashes. >> no. one can only hope investigators might be received differently, but who knows until it happens. >> right. and then there is the business of figuring out with some degree of certainty at some point, david, whether or not a missile did take this plane down, as many are suggesting, including

the united states. that's going to take some work, some forensic work that needs to be done very quickly. >> exactly. the whole investigation is a forensic exercise. they have to look at the evidence and deduce from that what's happened. if they can't get in to see the wreckage, to see what has happened, it's very difficult for them to do their work. i mean, if they get hold of something, for instance, like a seat cushion, can you tell from traces of explosives that might have gone into the cushion what kind of accident has happened. but unless you've got that in front of you and can take it away to be analyzed, you can't do a lot. >> can you think in your experience of any such incident crash, disaster, that was so difficult to access? >> it's pretty difficult. there have been incidents of civilian aircraft that was shot down. one in 1988 over the gulf, and then korean airline shot down by

russian military aircraft. so, there have been incidents. but the perpetrators seem to have been conventional military forces whereas here it may be they're separatists guerrilla warfare, whatever you want to call them, not a conventional army. >> that makes it harder as well. david deas, thanks very much for your expertise and analysis on this important story. we continue our coverage here on cnn and cnn international. for malaysia airlines, this is the second passenger plane lost in just over four months. relatives of flight 17 victims showed up at the airport in kuala lumpur friday with questions about what happened to their loved ones? it's a daunting task for the airline to try to provide answers, especially after the disappearance of flight 370 back in march. andrew stevens is in kuala lumpur. >> reporter: in a neighborhood mosque they pray for the soul of the captain of flight mh17.

he was a regular here. he was both active in the mosque and in his local community. friday prars ayers allow this close-knit group to remember and pray. he was a good man, says his good friend. he was always joining in and helping with activities. he was also a very good family man. members of this congregation say they're in shock as their small country grapples with its second aviation catastrophe in less than five months. this is a test from god from us and all malaysians, the imam of the mosque tells me. grieving families gather at the airport, the televised images, a bitter deja vu for a country that's already seen so much pain.

#prayersmh370 now replaced for praymh17. these two behind me at kuala lumpur international airport were until a few days ago hidden by a giant board, memorial board for those who went missing on flight mh370. messages left by loved ones to those on the plane. it is the most enduring mystery of modern aviation, but now it's been overlaid by yet another tragedy. it's also a message shock for malaysian airlines. the national carrier is cherished at home, so much so that malaysians like these men won't give up on it, in spite of all of the grief and damage done to malaysia's image abroad. >> i'm very proud of them and although this is tragedy, i feel feel proud of them.

>> reporter: andrew stevens, cnn, kuala lumpur. we're joined now live with more. malaysian airlines, after flight 370 and now flight 17, having to deal with tragedy after tragedy. how are they communicating with the passengers on this one? >> reporter: what they're doing is trying to get ahead of all of the news that's coming out. what we're seeing today is the prime minister, remember, this is the flagship, a state-owned airline. the prime minister is meeting with the families. we've already seen pictures of him meeting with some of these families and that's expected to come out on his twitter feed shortly. trying to show that the government is trying to get ahead and trying to connect with these families. the airline has also issued a global policy. for the next five days, anyone holding a ticket for malaysia

airlines anywhere in the world, even if it is nonrefundable, they will allow you to refund that ticket. if it is for travel this year because the airline is acutely aware of the scrutiny and also the nervousness of some of the people who may be boarding a plane over the next few months or so. but we're also expecting today, hala, is some news. in about 90 minutes we are expecting a news conference with transport minister here in malaysia. we are expecting to hear a growing drum beat from this country, just as we're hearing from other international governments, that they want access to the site. what's driving this today is that many of the people, the malaysians aboard this plane, in the next 24 hours critical for the islamic faith. they want access to the bodies. they want the bodies treated properly according to religious customs. there is certainly going to be that drum beat added from this country. hala? >> for malaysia airlines 370 there were complaints from some of the passengers, relatives and

loved ones, that malaysia airlines wasn't communicating with them. are we hearing the same here or -- i mean, what are the relatives saying, those going through so much grief right now? >> reporter: it's very apples and oranges, because 370, that mystery endures. and here there is no mystery. so, we're getting a very different response. there's quite a bit more sympathy. the families have the answers. where the rage is coming from is being directed not at malaysia's government this time, but at the -- at what's happening in the region, in russia and ukraine. what they want to know is how this happened. that's being directed over there. so, it's a very, very different sentiment. even if you walk around this hotel, which for journalists here, it's a eerie sense of deja vu. totally different sentiment on the ground.

>> live from kuala lumpur, thanks very much. more than half of the passengers on flight 17 were from the netherlands. quinn lucas schansman was a duel dutch citizen, only 19. he was headed to indonesia to go on vacation with his family. his grandfather said he was a lively boy and they will all miss him. >> you know, as a grandparent, you just hope none of your children or grandchildren will go before you. and now it has happened. it is the first time it happens in our family. we always had the possibility to live our children out, but this time it didn't work, unfortunately. >> well, it's always important to hear from the relatives, because in the midst of the investigation, of the crash site, of all of the geopolitical statements and relationships

between countries, it boils right down to individuals losing their lives and those they leave behind. after the break here on cnn and cnn usa, russian president vladimir putin is already under fire over the crisis in ukraine. we'll hear from moscow is saying about the downing of the malaysian airlines plane after the break.

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let's bring you the latest on our continuing coverage of the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17. i'm hala gorani, live from london. a special team of investigators has arrived in kiev to discover -- to try to find out what happened to the jetliner. it's still unclear when the delegation, 131 people total, will be able to get access to the crash site in eastern

ukraine. u.s. officials say they believe the plane was brought down by a missile, possibly fired by pro-russia rebels, according to sources speaking to cnn. most likely they believe with backing from russia. what about russia? well, it is denying involvement in the jet's downing. we're joined live from cnn moscow with more. what are we hearing from the kremlin on this, diana? >> reporter: hi, hala. the kremlin's position all the way throughout the conflict in ukraine has been, it's got nothing to do with us. and this downed airliner is the same. they say it happened over ukrainian territory. there was responsibility of the ukrainian government to find out what happened. and the fact they cracked down on rebels in the east in the last few weeks, retaking

slvansk, led to this incident. today we've been hearing from deputy defense minister, who has raised ten confess he wants to hear kiev answer. notably, how come they -- if they were -- you know, the buk missile defense system, he charges kiev as having one operational in the area. he wants answers about that. he's also been bringing up the fact that ukrainian military shot down a russian plane over ukrainian materialiterritory ba1 and if this doesn't bear similarities. russian ambassador to the u.n. said yesterday that, frankly, ukrainian air authorities shouldn't have been allowing airplanes to fly over this conflict zone in any case. let's take a listen to what he said. >> translator: any normal person i'm sure first and foremost the question would arise, why did

the ukrainian aviation dispatcher send a passenger flight to an area of military clashes? an area which was being used for carrying out strikes against civilian targets against others? >> reporter: there are two pieces of evidence, hala, the ukrainians have pointed to which suggest russian involvement in which the u.s. has latched onto. one of these is intercepted audio recordings which suggest pro-russian militants with the help of russian expertise were somehow being trained to use surface-to-air missiles, and secondly the buk system missing one missile going back over the russian border. now, neither of those can we independently verify, but they do point to russian involvement. russia for its part has always denied its arming the rebels, even though we ourselves have seen russian apcs crossing over

into ukrainian territory. now is no exception. and when the international community puts pressure to bear on mr. putin at this stage, the question is whether he will respond, since he hasn't to date before. hala? >> what about ordinary russians, have you had the opportunity to speak to them, ask them what they think about all of this, potentially their country's involvement and supporting/arming these separatist rebels in eastern ukraine, something that may have led to this disaster? >> reporter: well, the russian view is -- the majority view is quite firmly behind the russian president and the russian propaganda. you know, this has been labeled as an information war right from the beginning. and certainly from the papers, you see them following the kremlin's lines, asking questions of kiev rather than saying perhaps this has something to do with us. one of the biggest tabloids here in moscow, i've got it here,

says 298 dead in a war that had nothing to do with them. and the headline here is, this is the third world war knocking on the door. well, that's fairly apocalyptic. that was the most striking headline we could find. the rest of them aren't really asking questions of their own government. they are following the government line of saying, kiev needs to come up with answers here. and i think that's in line with what we've seen coming out of the sort of russian propaganda wheel for quite a few months now, hala. >> diana magnay is live in moscow. we'll talk to diana again a bit later. ahead, a question some people have been asking -- why did aviation regulators feel it was safe to send flights over conflict zones? it happens a lot more than you think without incident. but in this case, obviously, people are now saying that they should have been a lot more careful. we'll be right back.

welcome back to our special coverage of malaysia 17. welcome to our viewers also in the united states. this hour, i'm hala gorani, live in london. in the days leading up to the attack on malaysia airlines

flight 17, what we believe to be an attack, several ukrainian aircraft were shot down over eastern ukraine. that's led many to question, why aviation directors felt it was safe to send flights over a conflict zone. renee marsh has that story. >> reporter: the signs of danger were all around. >> this also follows a pattern of actions by russian-backed separatist. >> reporter: june 13th pro-russian rebels shot down a military transport plane, killing 49 people. june 24th, rebels shoot a ukrainian hell koericopter. this week, july 19th, and wednesday, a fighter jet shot down. the next day, flight 17 suffered the same fate. were red flags ignored? malaysia airlines says no. >> the flight pattern taken by

mh17 was approved by international aviation and by the countries whose air space the route passed through. and international air transport. >> reporter: ukraine authorized flights above 32,000 feet, an altitude that was considered safe. nonetheless, some airlines did avoid the area, unless the air space is restricted, it's their call whether to fly through. a "new york times" report shows carriers like british airways and air france flew around the conflict zone all together. reuters reports, so did qantas, air berlin, asiana airlines, korean airline and china airlines. carriers like malaysia airlines flew directly over the war zone. >> you can't simply take every air space that might have a problem and say, we're not going to fly there, because as i say,

the global scope of that would be enormous. >> reporter: late this week the dangers of the air space now abundantly clear. those aviation authorities took action. the aviation arms of the u.n. and europe recommending that airlines avoid the air space. and the u.s. and ukraine prohibiting flights there. but for flight 17, it's too late. renee marsh, cnn, washington. do stay with me. our special coverage of malaysia flight 17 continues after a quick break. stay with us on cnn. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now? [ male announcer ] whether you're new to medicare or not, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. it's up to you to pay the difference.

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