Search Among The Sunflowers: New podcast marks 10 years since MH17 tragedy

Today marks the 10 years since the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

Commemorating this anniversary, Search Among The Sunflowers is a new 5-part podcast series from the Australian Federal Police, which looks for truth in the world’s biggest crime scene.

The commercial passenger plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on this day in 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

Among the victims were 38 people who called Australia home.

What followed this tragedy was an immediate and compassionate response from numerous Australian agencies, not least of which was the AFP.

It was heavily involved in the humanitarian mission to enter the crash site (which was in the middle of an active conflict zone) to retrieve, identify and repatriate human remains, as well as the examination of evidence for the forensic investigation and eventual criminal prosecution.

An 18 month project, Search Among The Sunflowers was produced by Media Heads in conjunction with the AFP.

It was written by Anna Spargo-Ryan. Sound design is by Dom Evans at EARSAY, with additional production by James Coster and Josh Newth at EARSAY.

Executive Producer Dave Carter worked closely with the AFP to capture some of the remarkable human stories associated with the downing of Flight MH17 – stories which will take listeners inside the AFP’s search for truth and their pursuit of justice for the families left behind.

In addition to some heartbreaking interviews with families who lost loved ones on board MH17, the podcast features exclusive interviews with members of the AFP, the Dutch National Police, the Dutch Prosecution Service, and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the former head of the Australian Defence Force, Sir Angus Houston.

The podcast also features an introduction by Australia’s Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and a tribute to the victims from Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Search Among The Sunflowers is available now on all podcast platforms.