Remains of nine MH17 crew among 20 to be brought home tomorrow
The Malaysian Insider – 3 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Remains of nine MH17 crew among 20 to be brought home tomorrow
Putrajaya today released the names of the 20 Malaysian victims of flight MH17 whose remains are due to arrive tomorrow.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said out of the 20, nine of them were MH17 crew while the remaining were passengers.
"Eleven of them were Muslims and nine were non-Muslims," said Hishammuddin at Bunga Raya complex, KLIA, today.
Among the remains were those of two chief stewardesses Dora Shahila Kassim and Azrina Yakob and first officer Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi.
Dora will be buried at Bukit Kiara cemetary in Kuala Lumpur while Azrina's remains will be brought to her husband's hometown in Taiping for burial.
Ahmad Hakimi’s remains will be buried in Putrajaya.
Hishammuddin said the remains of 17 victims will be in sealed coffins while that of Elizabeth Ng, Lee Hui Pin and Angeline Premilla will be contained in urns.
"We would like to appeal to the media to respect the wishes of the families to be given privacy in their time of grief," he said.
He added that the remains of victims to be buried in their hometowns in Johor, Sarawak and in Taiping will be flown on a C130 aircraft and an EC725 helicopter of the Armed Forces.
Flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people, including 44 Malaysians, was struck down by a surface-to-air missile on July 17.
Hishammuddin said families of 5 Malaysian victims are currently in the Netherlands and are expected to arrive early tomorrow morning.
He said the national flag will be flown at half mast tomorrow, which has been declared a national day of mourning for MH17. The public are also encouraged to don dark attire.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said two more Malaysian victims have been identified by authorities in Amsterdam, bringing to 30 the total number identified so far.
"We will bring the remains of 20 tomorrow while the remaining are expected to arrive on Sunday. We are working with our counterparts in the Netherlands on the arrangements," said Liow.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah will join MPs and foreign dignitaries at the ceremony marking the arrival of the remains at the Bunga Raya complex in KLIA.
Due to space constraints and security issues, members of the public who wished to pay their last respects to the victims can do so outside the compound of the complex.
Malaysians are also requested to observe a minute’s silence at 10.30am.
The remains of the 20 victims will be carried on a special MAS aircraft which is scheduled to take off today at 9.15pm Malaysian time, and expected to arrive at 9.45am tomorrow. – August 21, 2014.
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