MH17 The remains of several Malaysians from among the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH17 victims are to be readied by tomorrow, at the latest, for the journey home to Kuala Lumpur.

The process until then will include prayers or cremation, to be conducted with the assistance of the religious leaders of the different faiths respectively.

A few remains have yet to undergo the process of documentation and other procedure at the Monuta Mortuary, S-Gravanhage in The Hague.  

It is learnt that the Malaysian government, through its embassy in The Hague, will then request the Dutch government to hand over the remains to be flown to Kuala Lumpur.

The coffins containing the remains are expected to be taken aboard a special MAS aircraft on Thursday morning and orderly arranged in honour of the dead before the flight takes off for Kuala Lumpur at about 2pm (8pm in Malaysia).

Malaysian Ambassador to the Netherlands Fauziah Mohamad Taib has been quoted as saying there would be no formal ceremony to hand over the remains to the Malaysian government.  

She said the coffins bearing the remains would be removed from the mortuary and handed over to the Malaysian government after permission had been granted by the Dutch authorities, and would then be taken to the airport.

She said the Malaysian Embassy in the Netherlands would also fly the national flag at half-mast on Thursday and Friday as a mark of respect for the victims.  

Fauziah said the embassy continued to receive condolences from the local community and foreigners, via email, ordinary mail and facsimile.  

“We are thankful to have been able to work with a great team and for the good cooperation extended by the Dutch government to ensure the smooth process of sending the remains home,” she added.

She said that after the repatriation of the first batch of the remains, the embassy would await updates from the Dutch government on the rest of the remains, where an estimated 40 percent had yet to be finalised.   

The embassy would also monitor the investigation into the air tragedy conducted by legal experts from the Netherlands and Malaysia, she said.  

It has been reported that the remains of 22 victims would be flown home to Kuala Lumpur and would arrive at the KL International Airport at 10am on Friday, which has been declared a national day of mourning in Malaysia.

Flight MH17, carrying 298 people including 15 crew members, is believed to have been shot down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17.   

- Bernama