The aircraft carrying the remains of nine victims – seven Malaysian and two Dutch nationals – of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash has arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Bernama reported.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor were at the Bunga Raya Complex, KLIA, to join the next-of-kin in receiving the remains which were flown to Malaysia in five caskets and four urns.
According to a tweet by Bernama, the caskets bearing the remains of pilot Captain Wan Amran Wan Hussin and passenger Subashni J. Retnam were brought out of the MAS aircraft at 8.44am.
A minute of silence was observed at the Bunga Raya Complex at 8.58am as a mark of respect for the victims.
At 9am, the nine hearses bearing the remains of the crash victims left KLIA for their respective destinations.
Yesterday, Bernama reported that the remains of pilots Captain Wan Amran Wan Hussin and Captain Eugene Choo Jin Leong, as well as of a young Dutch-Malaysian couple and their baby girl, were among the nine victims to arrive in Malaysia today.
Aside from the two pilots, the other two crew members are co-pilot First Officer Muhd Firdaus Abdul Rahim and flight steward Sanjid Singh Sandhu.
Also returning to Malaysia are the remains of a young family comprising Dutch citizen Paul Goes, his Malaysian wife Subashini Jayaretnam and their 21-month-old daughter Kaela Maya Jay.
According to Bernama, the remaining two passengers are Malaysian Loh Yan Hwa and her Dutch husband Fan Shun Po.
In the same report, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the remains of five of the victims would be taken to their respective burial/cremation grounds using hearses while those of the other four would be flown by EC725 helicopters to destinations as requested by their next-of-kin.
The remains of two of them would be flown to the Bayan Lepas International Airport, Penang while those of the other two to Bukit Mertajam and Teluk Intan respectively, he added.
Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board, including 43 Malaysians. – September 2, 2014.