Half of the number of victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash have been identified, the Dutch National Forensic Investigation Team stated through a private forum for relatives, national broadcaster NOS reported on Saturday.
In total, identities of 149 victims is now known for their relatives, which is exactly half the number of the 298 people who were on board flight MH17. Of the crash victims were 196 Dutch nationals.
On July 23, the first aircraft with remains and bodies of the victims arrived at Eindhoven Airport, followed by several other flights. The coffins were brought to the Corporal Van Oudheusden barracks in Hilversum for the identification of the victims.
The flights were part of the recovery and repatriation mission led by the Netherlands. The mission was stopped ten days ago until further notice due to the deteriorating security conditions at the crash site in eastern Ukraine.
On July 17, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, went down in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. The cause of the incident remains unknown and the investigation cannot go smoothly due to the armed conflict in the region.
The forensics team of more than 100 specialists, working at a military base in Hilversum, southeast of Amsterdam, have instituted a regime of weekly updates about their own painstaking work aimed at giving names to the human remains collected so far—amid a vacuum of information about the cause of the disaster.
Remains of two more MH17 Malaysian victims identified
The remains of two more Malaysian victims have been identified by the Netherlands authorities, bringing to date 26 Malaysians identified in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 tragedy.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Wee Ka Siong said this latest development had been relayed by the Netherlands government to the Malaysian Embassy and Malaysia Airlines (MAS).
“I was informed of the matter in a meeting with our ambassador to the Netherlands Datuk Dr Fauziah Mohamad Taib and MAS Services Operation vice-president Datuk Baharom Mohd Yatim on Saturday.
“The families have also been informed. The documentation process is being carried out and will be completed as soon as possible before funeral arrangements are carried out,” Wee told Bernama here late yesterday.
“Also, both governments are working hard to ensure the remains of the two victims can be sent back quickly.”
On Aug 14, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had said the remains of 24 Malaysian victims of the MH17 tragedy had been identified by the authorities in the Netherlands, namely of 14 passengers and 10 crew.
He also said the remains of 16 of these victims, including that of a non-Malaysian, would be sent back to Kuala Lumpur in a special aircraft and expected to arrive at the KL International Airport (KLIA) at 10am Friday.
The date had also been announced as a day of national mourning and a ceremony in honour of the victims would be held on that day at the Bunga Raya Complex at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
In the meantime, Wee, who prior to this had been appointed to handle the process of managing the remains of Malaysian victims who are Buddhists, said all ashes and remains of those already identified would be collected on Thursday for the process of sending back to Kuala Lumpur.
According to Wee, continuous discussions were being held with the government of the Netherlands and updated to ensure all standard operation procedures and documentation were done correctly and smoothly.
Commenting on the presence of numerous non-Muslim heads of religions who were specially brought from Malaysia to manage the remains in the religious context, Wee said he was satisfied with the good response given to the matter.
“We do not know when the remains of more non-Muslim Malaysian victims would be placed under them after this and as such we will continue to discuss and cooperate to ensure the ceremonies run smoothly.
“We also received very good response from the Buddhist association here to voluntarily hold their own or join in the ceremonies to manage the remains.”
It is reported that the Buddhist religious head Reverend Sing Han, Tao Daozhang religious head Tan Boon Sin, Hindu religious head S. Mohanshan and Sikh religious head Sardar Harcharan Singh were specially flown from Malaysia several days ago for the management of the religious ceremonies for non-Muslim bodies in the Netherlands.
Flight MH17, carrying 298 people, including 15 crew, crashed in the Donetsk region, east of Ukraine and close to the Russian border, on July 17. The plane is believed to have been shot down.
Sunday 17 August 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-08/17/c_126880260.htm
http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/08/17/remains-two-mh17-malaysian-victims-identified/
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