the mayor of hilversum. extraordinary. again, 13 people from a town of 85,000 people, and they should be arriving shortly. >> i was listening to the mayor speaking. i was thinking, how does a community recover, how does a country recover? we know they do because there have been atrocities before. we know they do because there have been accidents. there have been these sort of disasters before. the pain in the skies. i think back to scotland where there was a mass murder. i think back ton the other occasions in this country, in the united states, where there have been atrocities. and communities come together and they do recover. but the scars always remain. >> christiane amanpour is also joining us in our coverage of this national day of mourning in the netherlands. this day of community, as richard quest said, really, around the world. christiane, there is that sense, as you watch this, this sense of community, the community there in the netherlands, the international community watching this with heavy hearts and with sad

really what seemed like all of hilversum came out to pay their respects. speaking to people in the crowds, they were telling me they feel it's their national duty to be here. to grieve and mourn. also here, the family of quinn schansman. he was the only american on board mh-17. he had dual dutch and american nationality. his father was here, his family was here. and they simply held each other as the caskets went through those gates, not knowing if quinn was inside one of them. it was incredibly touching to see. this -- hilversum is very much a community mourning this loss, this tragedy, particularly painful for them. they lost three families to this tragedy, plus quinn. i was outside the home of one family earlier this morning, and to see it stand empty with flowers on the doorstep, that family never to return. really, that's when it really hit me that the depth and get scale of this tragedy. and nearby soccer club, one of the little boys who was on board mh-17, his best friend left a note saying "you'll be in our hearts forever". and i was speaking to a

there you see them, citizens in hilversum, near hilversun in the netherlands.n who come with teddy bears. we've seen people throwing flowers on to the road. tens of thousands of people lined up, waiting, in many cases, for hours, waiting for strangers to pass by. but they want to be there. some people have applauded. some stand silently crying. these images are truly something that all the world can take part in and all the world can watch and bear witness to what these people went through, to what these people not only went through in the final minutes and seconds of their lives and have gone through for the last six days the torturous journey that they have taken to come to where they are now. finally being greeted in a country with dignity and respect. honor. given all the honor that they had in life. >> as we of course realize that we will have to go through this many more times, anderson, in the days ahead. the dutch say they hope to bring back at least those bodies that have been recovered so far. all of them by friday. well, it's wednesday now. so that m

sanjay gupta for us in hilversum in the netherlands. thank you so much, sanjay. >>> coming up next, our other breaking story this afternoon, a united nations shelter has been hit in gaza. it is chaos there. as dozens are rushed to the hospital, including as you can see children. we'll take you there live. >>> plus, as crews look for the remains of more passengers from flight 17, keep in mind, many are still unaccounted for. we are getting word of a huge discovery at the crash site. all of this as reports indicate the passengers' credit cards have been stolen. disgusting. you're watching cnn, special live coverage. dust irritating your eye? (singing) ♪ visine® gives your eyes relief in seconds. visine®. get back to normal. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and sy

on board flight mh-17 were three entire families and the son of a fourth family from hilversum.that one small town here in the netherlands knows all too well what it means to be joining in this national day of mourning. for the moment, from eindhoven, back to london. >> anita, thanks so much for joining us from the netherlands there. as anita was saying, there are still so many unanswered questions. go it our website and find the latest news about the investigation. there is also a very special what we know page, just taking you through everything that was managed together so far that we can clarify for you. go to bbc.com/mh17. >>> let's bring you up to date with other news now. as iraq's parliament convenes in baghdad, they try to elect a new president, a suicide bombing in the city has killed 31 people and wounded several others. this act took place in the shiite district of the city, the sunni islamist group which led an offensive through northern and western iraq has claimed responsibility. >>> five employees of a chinese company accused of selling expired meat to fast food

practically everyone knows someone in the small town of hilversum who died in the crash, 12 in all. take the pee-wee soccer league. it lost a key family. 12-year-old verter, a player, his sister and mother, and his dad, who ran the team's web site. ricardo metz is a league referee. >> we are devastated. we are broken. >> reporter: along with the shock and the grief, there is a great anger in the netherlands. and a growing consensus on who is responsible. just look at the front page of one of the main national newspapers, a photograph of the pro-russian rebels in ukraine, and one word across the top "murderers." the government isn't goings that far, but it has sent its foreign minister to kiev demanding answers. >> we want to know who did this and we want the proof to be there. not just the people who pulled the trigger. also the people who made this possible. >> reporter: in other words, he means russia. until now, an ally of the netherlands. hilversum's mayor is pieter broertjes. >> we have a very strong relationship with putin. >> reporter: and you have big trade links. >> that's

this dutch military facility outside the city of hilversum, they have been making preparations for the arrival of the remains. soon the eyes of the internationally affected community will be on this place. over the coming days, weeks and perhaps even months the bodies of those passengers will be driven through these gates to be identified by forensics before they can finally be reunited with their families. this is a small nation, one that isn't accustomed to such immense misery. >> and, yes, that town of hilversum, an hour's drive from here. the population around 80,000. it lost three entire families on flight mh-17, and the son of a fourth, a huge loss for a relatively small town. but as i mentioned a little while ago, when the 40 coffins arrive back here today, we don't know whose remains those could havens coffins will contain. it is the start of a process with many, many more bodies still to be returned to the grieving families. for now, back to london. >> anita mcveigh there in eindhoven. >>> the other big story of course this week, that is events in israel and gaza. the u.n. hum

sanjay gupta, cnn, hilversum, the netherlands. >> joining me to talk about the process of identifyinghe remains from flight 17 is dr. joy carter, the chief forensic pathologist in marion county, indiana, the first african-american to be appointed chief medical examiner in the u.s. and author of the book "i speak for the dead. "i understand you've had to identify victims of a plane crash before. what are some of the unique problems in this process? >> well, first of all, it's very difficult for the investigator. you have to imagine one of the worst fears is being involved with a plane crash. it takes a lot of intestinal fortitu fortitude. and then you have your work cut out for you with trying to establish who was on the plane and how much of that body is remaining in order to get it back to the right family. that's so important. it's crucial. you have to think about how this impacts all of the workers involved with this. a huge effort to get all the remains collected. >> you talk about fear. fear because you know the horror that you're going to be witne witnessing? >> yes. that's one

. >> some 80 forensic experts have started identifying the remains at a military hospital in hilversum. they have cautioned that it could take weeks or months to match records to all 298 victims. the job of decoding the black boxes is being carried out by specialists in britain. experts say the flight gator -- flight data recorder was damaged, but [no audio] able to retrieve data and are now studying it to try to find out what transpired in the cockpit in the final minutes of the ill-fated light. -- flight. in eastern ukraine, a new team of osce observers has arrived at the site. their job was to map the wreckage. there were no reports of separatist impeding their access. >> an algerian passenger jet with more than 110 people on board has crashed over molly in west africa. -- mali in west africa. >> the plane left in the early hours thursday morning from the capital, heading to algiers. contact was lost somewhere between two towns in mali. >> nearly half on board are thought to be french. >> it was an agonizing wait and algiers airport. friends and relatives of the planes 110 passenger

in hilversum in the netherlands, where these bodies are now being handed over for identification. but first, sanjay, can we just talk about the dignified and respectful procession that we witnessed, not just today with these victims, but yesterday as well. >> it is exactly as you described it, brooke. it was respectful, quiet. thousands of people lining the streets, waiting for some time. it was pretty warm here. brooke, i don't know if you can hear behind me -- >> wailing. fblth obviously, very emotional time. i don't know if people here are family members or just citizens of this area. but nobody has gone unaffected by what has happened here. these 74 hearses came in. i was so struck by how quiet it was. they came in a simple wooden casket in the back, a single white rose on the hood of every car. it was incredibly moving, brooke. and, again, they came in here, right behind me. this is the military base where 75 forensic examiners have come together to try and identify these remains for the primary goal of continuing that dignity, returning these remains back to the people who l

in hilversum netherlands, 17 coffinens expect topped arrive with the remains of more victims from mh-down over eastern ukraine. you can see people clapping, in honor of the lives that were lost, in honor of their memories. and children greeting these cochins as they stream by. this is a very tough day for this small town. three entire families were on that plane. that came from this town. there was also the son of a fourth people. 83 people live in this town. 23 miles southeast of amsterdam in addition to the 198 coffins that were flown back to the netherlands earlier this week. the coffins being taken now to a forensic lab so that experts can identify the remains, and that's a process we're told that could take weeks, possibly even months. just giving a moment to pause and really take in the gravity of this scene as those coffins roll by. we'll keep watching for new developments in the netherlands. >>> back at the crash scene, meanwhile, frustration growing because of the devastation of flight 17 and the fact investigators can't get in there. reports human remains are still lying in