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2. IRAN’S INVESTIGATION AND OBFUSCATIONS 2.1 Failure to Secure the Crash Site Securing the crash site is one key step in any air crash investigation. In the 1988 Lockerbie disaster, 400 square kilometers were completely isolated and investigated, allowing tiny parts from a Toshiba record-player or small shreds from a shirt to be found and used as evidence to help find the perpetrators of the bombing. Similarly, 50 square kilometers were enclosed around the MH17 crash site in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 despite its location in an active conflict zone, and the wreckage was thoroughly investigated by the international technical and criminal investigation team. In other cases of air disasters, such as Flight 302 of the Ethiopian Airlines, similar protocols were implemented [32]. Following the downing of flight PS752 and its crash in Shahedshar, Tehran, these protocols were not followed whatsoever. Based on a report available to the Association, the first people who reached the crime-scene were residents of the villages of Khalajabad, Ferdowsieh and Adran. Some thefts have been reported in those early minutes, but firefighters arrived from Saba Battery’s Company and Sabashahr at 6:45AM. This was followed by the arrival of police forces at 6:50AM, who were responsible for securing the area. Due to the scale of the disaster, more firefighters were called in for help and rescue workers were also deployed around 7:30AM, meanwhile the crime scene was full of unidentified people, many of whom were security officers in plain clothes. The road to the site was closed and the present forces were assigned various responsibilities: Firefighters and Red Crescent workers were in charge of collecting the bodies, and police officers were collecting the belongings of the passengers and crew. In photos and videos of the site, police officers are seen searching through passengers' belongings, while many ordinary people are still present at the scene. All the passengers' belongings, including luggage, handbags, healthy or damaged cell phones, money, and valuables, were reportedly handed over to the law enforcement, most of which were confiscated or stolen and never returned to their families. About 11:00AM, less than five hours after the disaster, bulldozers and riot police arrived in the area. From available photos at least two bulldozers can be seen moving parts of the plane, and anything left on the ground (Figure 2-1 and Figure 2-2). Based on "The Secret of Romeo's Death", Ukrainian documentary regarding the Flight PS752, Ukrainian investigators were escorted out of the crash site once they deduced that the downing of PS752 was caused by a surface to air missile [33].1
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igDAFtwPe-s
