DHAKA: Malaysia on Saturday said vital evidence at the Ukrainian site where flight MH17 went down had been tampered with, calling it a ‘betrayal’ of the lives lost in the disaster.

‘The integrity of the site has been compromised, and there are indications that vital evidence has not been preserved in place. Interfering with the scene of the crash risks undermining the investigation itself,’ said Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai, who will be heading to Ukraine later on Saturday.

‘Failure to stop such interference would be a betrayal of the lives that were lost,’ he told a press conference, reports The Straits Times.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Security Council said on Saturday that the black boxes belonging to the airliner had not been handed over to Kiev and he had no information about them.

BDST: 2048 HRS, JUL 19, 2014