Families select Schiphol for permanent MH17 monument

The families of the MH17 disaster picked Schiphol airport for the national MH17 monument, the Stichting Vliegramp MH17 announced on Thursday. More than 60 percent of the Dutch victims' relatives and a number of the foreign victims' survivors voted on the location for the permanent monument. More than half opted for Vijfhuizen at Schiphol Airport, ANP reports. One tree for each of the 298 victims will be planted on the site. The trees' growth will symbolically keep the memory of the victims alive. A monument will also be built. And MH17 memorials and commemorations can be held in the former main building of the Floriade. The intention is to unveil the monument on July 17th, 2017 - exactly three years after the disaster. The Stichting Vliegramp MH17, which represents the families, will work on arranging permits and financing for the monument. Schiphol airport is where the victims stepped on flight MH17 and where most of the families said what was to be their last goodbyes. Other proposals for the location of the monument were The Hague, as city of Peace and Justice, and Eindhoven, as the city where the victims remains arrived after the disaster.