KUALA LUMPUR: It was a sad homecoming yesterday for 20 of the 43 Malaysian victims of the MH17 air disaster, 37 days after the tragic incident in Ukraine.
Waiting next-of-kin, family, friends and Malaysians in general felt a stir of sadness even as the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747 aircraft emerged from a overcast sky to land at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang after a 12-hour flight from Amsterdam.
Tears flowed freely as family members, friends and work colleagues present at the Bunga Raya Complex of KLIA, or watching the proceedings on television elsewhere, caught sight of the Jalur Gemilang-draped coffins as they were brought out and placed inside waiting hearses.
The nation shared in the grief, having been prepared for the occasion with the government having declared Aug 22 as a day of national mourning for the victims of the tragedy.
The 20 fallen Malaysians, who were flown home as remains in 17 coffins and cremated ashes in three urns, were accorded ceremonial military honours – the first bestowed on civilians in the nation’s history – executed with precision in a simple yet dignified manner.
Joining the next-of-kin in welcoming the victims home were Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah as well as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and other dignitaries.
The remains flown home yesterday were those of 11 passengers and nine MH17 crew members.
The passengers were Foo Ming Lee, Karamjit Singh Karnail Singh, Ng Qing Zheng, Mabel Anthony Samy, Paul Rajasingam Sivagnanam, Elisabeth Ng Lyeti, Ariza Ghazalee, Muhammad Afif Tambi, Noor Rahimmah Mohd Nor, Mohd Ali Md Salim and Hasni Hardi Parlan.
The crew were Mastura Mustafa, Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi, Hamfazlin Sham Mohamed Arifin, Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh, Dora Shahila Kassim, Lee Hui Pin, Angeline Premila Rajandaran, Chong Yee Pheng and Azrina Yakob.
The first of the coffins to be brought out of the Boeing 747 plane contained the remains of stewardess Mastura Mustafa.
Shortly after the process of placing the caskets and urns inside the hearses was completed by the military personnel in ceremonial attire, Malaysia stood still as a minute of silence was observed at 10.54am as a mark of respect for the fallen Malaysians.
A total of 450 personnel from the 12th Infantry Brigade were involved in yesterday’s ceremony at the Bunga Raya Complex that was executed with military precision.
After the session was completed, the hearses were driven past Tuanku Abdul Halim as they left the complex for the victims’ respective hometowns, funeral homes or mosques for eventual burial or other arrangements.
The remains of seven of the victims were flown by Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and EC725 helicopters to Kuching, Ipoh, Taiping, Pagoh and Segamat while the rest were taken by road to other destinations.
The seven were Ariza and her son Muhammad Afif, Chong, Azrina, Noor Rahimmah, Mohd Ali and Hasni Hardi.
Meanwhile, Tuanku Abdul Halim and Najib performed Friday prayers at the lakeside Putra Mosque in Putrajaya where prayers were earlier held for the remains of co-pilot Ahmad Hakimi and stewardess Nur Shazana.
Both Ahmad Hakimi and Nur Shazana were among the first of the 20 victims to be laid to rest, at the Putrajaya Muslim cemetery in Precinct 20.
Flight MH17 went down in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.
Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 people on board.
The remains gathered in Ukraine had been flown to the Netherlands for identification and other procedures as a large number of the passengers were Dutch nationals. — Bernama