Corpses and body parts strewn amid MH17 wreckage greet first arrivals at Ukraine crash scene

Horrendous scenes in eastern Ukraine field where Malaysian Airlines flight crashed to earth are encountered by local villagers, rescue workers and militiamen as they reach the scene

Scenes of near-unspeakable horror, with crumpled corpses and body parts strewn amid the smouldering wreckage, greeted local villagers and pro-Russian rebels who were first on the scene of the crash.

Journalists covering the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine chronicled the gruesome carnage with searing eyewitness reports from the wheat field where flight MH17 smashed to earth, with no survivors from the 295 on board.

"A woman in a black sweater top lay on her back, blood streaming from her face, her left arm raised as if signalling someone," wrote Sabrine Tavernise, a New York Times correspondent.

"Another victim, naked except for a black bra, lay on the field, her grey hair mixing with the green grasses, one leg broken and her body torn.

"A young boy, who looked to be around 10 years old, lay on his side in a red T-shirt that read 'Don't Panic'." Rescue workers from the local militia forces tied pieces of white cloth on tree branches as near to the scene as they could as approximate markers of where bodies were found. ( telegraph.co.uk, Photo: REUTERS)