The local department of Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry in the eastern Donetsk region said on Sunday 196 bodies had been found at the site where the Malaysian airliner crashed.

"As of 7 a.m. on July 20, in the Shakhtarsky region of the crash site of the Boeing 777, 196 bodies were found," it said in a statement, adding that divers were involved in the search because the area included a reservoir.