MH17: Another Malaysian on ill-fated flight identified

SEPANG: Another Malaysian national in the doomed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 has been identified, bringing the total to 31, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said on Sunday.

He said arrangements were being made by the government to repatriate the remains of the remaining MH17 victims, with the third group scheduled to arrive on Aug 30.



"We will continue to update the public on the arrival of the remains from time to time," he told reporters at the ceremony to honour the second group of MH17 victims whose remains arrived at Bunga Raya Complex of the KL International Airport (KLIA), here.

Flight MH17 crashed 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.

So far, the remains of 23 MH17 victims have been repatriated from the Netherlands to Malaysia.

The remains of 20 of them, comprising 11 passengers and nine MAS crew, arrived here last Friday.

The second group, involving the remains of three victims, arrived Sunday, but only two of the victims were given military honours.

To a question whether the remains of the remaining Malaysian victims could be repatriated before Malaysia Day on Sept 16, Liow said the matter could not be confirmed yet.

Liow said family members of some of the victims requested for privacy and did not want to be involved in the ceremony.

The government respects their wish and privacy, he added. - Bernama