MH17 The rain did not dampen the ceremony to honour the nine victims of Malaysia Airlines, flight MH17 at the Bunga Raya Complex, KL International Airport in Sepang today.
The weather was initially cloudy as MH19 bringing remains of the victims, including two pilots and two Dutch nationals, from Amsterdam made its landing.
The rain fell as soon as the aircraft landed solidly on the tarmac at 8.35am.
MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk on July 17 after being shot down.
Overhead, the dark sky and falling rain seem to reflect the grief of bereaved families and those present at the sombre ceremony.
Drops of rain accompanied each of the five caskets and four urns to the waiting hearses.
The remains of pilot Captain Wan Amran Wan Hussin was the first to be lowered from the MH19 aircraft, followed by those of passenger Subashini J Retnam and finally, Dutch national Fun Shun Po.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor, cabinet ministers and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Najib also met with families and relatives of the victims prior to the ceremony.
Families members wept and comforted each other as the remains of their loved ones were lowered from the MH19 aircraft and carried to waiting hearses.
At 8.58am, those attending the ceremony to honour the victims offered a minute’s prayer before the hearses left the complex.
Dutch national Paul Goes’ casket and the urn containing countryman Fun Shun Po’s ashes were draped with the Netherlands flag.
The remains of baby Kaela Maya Jay Goes (21 months), the daughter of Goes and his Malaysian wife Subashni J Retnam, also arrived today.
Meanwhile, Fun ‘accompanied’ his wife Loh Yan Hwa who also perished in the tragedy on July 17, to their final resting place in the country.
Remains of pilot and co-pilot among those brought back
The remains of pilot Capt Eugene Choo Jin Leong, co-pilot Muhamad Firdaus Abdul Rahim and crew member Sanjid Singh Sandhu were among those accorded full respects today.
A total of 350 personnel from the 12th Infantry Brigade made up the guard of honour at the ceremony at Bunga Raya KLIA today.
Despite the rain, the guards and media stayed put at their assigned positions.
Cameramen and photographers assigned to the tarmac covered their equipment with canvas or their jackets in their earnestness to document the mournful yet historic occasion.
MH17 was carrying 298 passengers and crew when it crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, while heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft was believed to have been shot down, although no party had admitted responsibility.
- Bernama
