Rutte to Malaysian PM: we are united in mourning

As Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrived in the Netherlands yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte assured him of the continued cooperation in getting all victims of the MH17 tragedy home.

“The Netherlands and Malaysia are united in mourning. The pain of this terrible accident is almost unbearable,” Rutte said. He made reference to the previous tragedy that befell Malaysia when its flight 370 disappeared in March 2014. “Malaysian resilience is being tested heavily,” Rutte said. “It is extraordinary how our countries are able to find each other in these difficult times and work together to bring the victims of flight MH17 home.”

Rutte told Prime Minister Razak that his country shared three priorities with the Netherlands: repatriating the victims and their belongings, getting clarity on what caused the aircraft to crash and seeing to it that those responsible receive their due punishment.

Rutte's statement to PM Razak coincided as news surfaced that two weeks after Malaysian Air flight MH17 was shot out of the sky over Ukraine, at least 80 bodies of passengers of remain out in the field in Donetsk where it came down.

There were 195 Dutch nationals among the 298 people who perished when flight MH17 went down; the Boeing 777 was allegedly hit by a missile in the Donetsk region of the Ukraine in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.