Malaysia Airlines said it has no immediate plans to fly the relatives of the 298 passengers and crew killed in the downing of flight MH17 to Ukraine to visit the site because of security concerns.

A spokesman for the airline said next of kin are being cared for in Amsterdam while a team from the carrier, including security officials, assess the situation.

He said the team were trying to travel "500 kilometres through difficult territory" to reach the area where the wreckage of the Boeing 777 landed.

In the Netherlands, travellers flying out of Schiphol Airport laid flowers and signed a book of condolence before boarding their flights, including today's Malaysia Airlines flight 17 to Kuala Lumpur.

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