ZAKA COO Haim Weingarten said in a statement on Friday that "after many efforts by the International ZAKA Unit, in cross-continental cooperation with ZAKA representatives in Israel, the United States, London and Ukraine, together with Chabad emissaries in Ukraine, we obtained a waiver for the autopsy and approval for the burial of the bodies of the three yeshiva students killed in the plane crash.
"Within a few minutes of receiving the report at the ZAKA hotline in Israel, a local team of ZAKA volunteers from Ukraine had already left for the scene to deal with the deceased with dignity and the findings in the difficult scene," Weingarten said.
"The bodies of the dead are being transported from Kiev to London by private flight, and from there, two of them will be transported by commercial plane to the United States, flights organized by the benefactor, 'Hatzolah air' CEO Mr. Eli Rowe, who volunteered to help bring the deceased for burial as soon as possible."
ZAKA CEO Dubi Wiesenstern said he was "thrilled to see all the ZAKA volunteers, Chabad emissaries and rabbis who came together and helped deal with the tragic disaster."
"The ZAKA organization is entrusted with honoring the dead and with saving lives around the world through dedicated teams that are deployed and available to help quickly anywhere in the world," he explained.
"Thanks to the activities of ZAKA representatives, Chabad emissaries and benefactors, the families will be able to bury their loved ones even before Shabbat," he concluded.