Malaysian MH17 victims sent home

About 15 victims of the Malaysian plane crash in the Ukraine will be flown to Kuala Lumpur today and tomorrow, says Malaysian Minister of Defense according to NOS.nl. Among these will be the body of one Dutchman. Malaysian Airlines flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, where a civil war has raged between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian separatists. The flight took off on July 17 from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, destined for Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people onboard the Boeing 777 died, including 43 Malaysian and 196 Dutch citizens. The remains of almost half of the victims have been identified in Hilversum and can now be sent home. Thursday has been declared a national day of mourning in Malaysia. A simple ceremony will be held to which the king, cabinet members and relatives of the victims are invited. Some of these remains of Dutch victims have already been handed over to family members, with several having held funerals already. On Friday another man will be buried in The Hague, family members have reported. This will be the first of these funerals open to the public.