The United Nations on Friday talked tough calling for a full probe of the plane believed to have been shot down by a side in Ukraine’s conflict.
“The Ukrainian authorities believe that the plane was shot down,” said Prime Minister Najib Razak in a statement. “At this early stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy. But we must — and we will — find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone can be left unturned.”
There were 283 passengers and 15 crew aboard Flight 17. Of those, 154 people were from the Netherlands. There were also 27 from Australia, 43 from Malaysia (including the crew and two infants), 12 from Indonesia (including another infant) and others from Europe, the Philippines and Canada, according to a statement posted Thursday by Malaysia Airlines.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that distressed relatives have gathered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport to await news of family members. In between sobs, Akmar Mohamad Noor told AP that her older sister was on the flight, returning to Malaysia to celebrate Eid with the family for the first time in 30 years.
“She called me just before she boarded the plane and said, ‘See you soon,’” Akmar said.
There were reports that furious relatives waited for hours at the airport, unable to speak to officials from Malaysia Airlines and prevented from entering operational areas by security guards.
“We have been waiting for four hours. We found out the news from international media. The Facebook is more efficient than MAS,” one man said to waiting media.
Malaysian news outlet The Star gave blanket coverage to the crash Thursday morning, but, seeking a human dimension to the tragedy, most readers were drawn to a simple, poignant story on the worried messages left by colleagues on the Facebook page of cabin attendant Angeline Premila, believed to have been on the downed flight.
The Malaysian Insider reported on the extraordinary fate of cabin crew member Sanjid Singh, who reportedly swapped shifts so that he could be aboard Flight 17.
Months earlier, his wife, also a Malaysia Airlines cabin crew member, had swapped out of the now vanished Flight 370 at the last minute, saving her life.
News site Astro Awani also carried news of the families of other crew members. Relatives of flight 17’s chief steward, Mohd. Ghaffar Abu Bakar, 54, said they heard the news on TV. The father of cabin attendant Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh, 31, was unaware his daughter was aboard Flight 17 until informed by her friends late on Thursday evening. “She had asked us to send a photo of her nephew … She sounded cheerful,” he told journalists regarding his last communication with her on July 16.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Twitterverse is abuzz with the news about the crash. “Following the uproar over the disappearance of MH 370, now [we are] shocked by MH17 that crashed in Ukraine. Oh God,” said @tracy_elsia, writing in Bahasa Malaysia.
Many users were in disbelief with the two successive tragedies that befall the country. “My dear God. The MH370 case is not finished, the MH17 case arrives. #PrayForMH17 #PrayForMH370,” said @apizshahh.
In the deeply religiously Muslim-majority country, some Twitter users turned to God for consolation. “Nightmare?? Only Allah knows what was happening … #prayforMH17,” said @mohdzarulhiqmi.
If it disappears —Passenger’s omen
Hours before Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed Thursday over Ukraine, a man believed to be a passenger on the plane made a reference to the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370, which vanished mysteriously in March.
On his Facebook page, Dutch citizen Cor Pan shared a photo of the plane he was about to board, with a caption that translates to “If it disappears, this is what it looks like.”
Initially, friends commented on the photo wishing him happy holidays. But their messages turned to ones of concern once news of the crash broke.
Based on the number of flights leaving Amsterdam’s Schipol airport, and the timing of his Facebook status, it is feared he was on the fated flight.
His cousin later posted the flight number beneath the picture and shortly after friends began leaving messages saying ‘rest in peace’.
Another said that his girlfriend was on the flight with him.
A close family friend of Captain Eugene Choo Jin Leong, the captain of the crashed plane, told The Telegraph: “We are still holding onto hope because, up till now, no official has contacted us to let us know what has happened. All that we know about what happened is from the television.”
Lucky couple explains miracle escape
A couple who had been planning to fly on the Malaysia Airlines flight has spoken of the “sick feeling” they experienced on hearing the news.
Barry Sim and his wife Izzy were told there were not enough seats on the plane for them and their baby so they switched to a later KLM flight.
Up to 10 British passengers were feared to be among the 295 people killed when a the Malaysia Airlines plane was apparently shot down on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Asked about his response to the crash, Mr Sim, from Scotland, said: “You get this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach [...] We started getting butterflies. Your heartbeat starts going.”
Mrs Sim added: “There must have been someone watching over us and saying ‘you must not get on that flight’.
She said: “We are very loyal to Malaysia Airlines and we always want to fly with Malaysia Airlines.” She added that her husband usually disliked flying with KLM.
“But do you know what, at this moment we are so glad to be on that KLM flight rather than that Malaysia Airlines flight,” she said.
Mr Sim said: “In my mind lightning never strikes twice in the same place so I am still philosophical that you get on the flight and you go about your life. I know my wife doesn’t feel like that. Probably the last thing she wants to do now is fly, especially to Kuala Lumpur.”
Mr Sim said he was “philosophical” about continuing to “go about your life”, saying that he believed the couple should take the KLM flight, despite his wife’s misgivings about the danger of another crash.
Nationalities aboard MH17
154 Dutch
43 Malaysian (including 15 crew)
27 Australian
12 Indonesian
9 British
4 German
4 Belgian
3 Filipino
1 Canadian
41 Unverified
We must find this out -US
The United States is analysing the trajectory of the missile to try to learn where the attack came from, a senior US official told the CNN.
The Obama administration believes Ukraine did not have the capability in the region — let alone the motivation — to shoot down the plane, a U.S. official said.
He called for an international team to have full access to the crash site.
“We must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left unturned,” he said.
“If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” Najib said.
Ukrainian officials maintained that pro-Russian separatists were behind the crash.
‘Body parts scattered over 15km’
There were reportedly 23 American passengers, and at least four French nationals on the Malaysia Airlines flight.
Graphic images and footage showed a pall of smoke, charred wreckage and bodies at the crash scene in the rebel-held eastern Ukraine village of Grabovo.
Other photographs from the scene showed charred and mutilated bodies as well as passengers’ passports that had been recovered from the wreckage of the downed airliner.
One passport had been opened poignantly showing the photo of 13-year-old Dutch girl who is believed to be among the dead.
Images also included piles of suitcases and bags piled up at the crash scene.
Witnesses say body parts are scattered over a distance of 15km, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air.
The upper floor of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was closed off reserved for family and relatives of passengers on flight MH17.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who had been attending a European Union summit in Brussels, headed back to the Netherlands to deal with fallout from the crash.
Flight MH17, which was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew and took off from Schiphol airport shortly after lunchtime yesterday.
The plane appeared to have broken up before impact and the burning wreckage — which included body parts and the belongings of passengers — was scattered over a wide area.
A spokesman from the Foreign Office would not be drawn on reports that up to 10 British nationals had been on board the plane.
“We are aware of the reports and are urgently working to establish what has happened,” he said.
Asked about the reports, the spokesman added: “Our first priority is to establish if there are any British persons on board but we are not in a position to go beyond that line.”
The Foreign Office is in talks with consular teams in Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to obtain passenger lists to establish how many UK nationals were on board.
We lost a number of colleagues —Aids society
The International AIDS Society said in a statement that “a number of colleagues and friends” were on the plane, on the way to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
“At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy,” the statement said.
The route the Malaysian plane was on, between Kuala Lumpur and the Netherlands, is a common one, CNN aviation safety consultant Mary Schiavo said Thursday. She said that the plane was flying over a troubled area and that close communication with air traffic controllers would be a key necessity.
Torez is in a rebel-held area.
In hostile or disputed areas, “any alteration from your course, and you can have a problem,” Schiavo said.
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