Rutte wants MH17 National Commemoration

By Maxime Zech on August 27, 2014 - 07:51
Prime Minister Mark Rutte
. Prime Minister Mark Rutte / Wikipedia

On the 10th of November, there will be a national commemoration ceremony for all 298 passengers lost in the tragic Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces Tuesday, Omroep Brabant reports.

The national ceremony will take place in the RAI event complex in Amsterdam. Prime Minister Rutte announced this during a gathering for the surviving relatives of the crash victims in Nieuwegein.

Rutte says that the surviving relatives will work very closely with the organizers to give form to the ceremony.

The gathering in Nieuwegein was joined by around 600 to 700 people. Some of these have already had their loved ones identified, and others still have to wait for identification.

There were also attention for the non-Dutch victims of the plane crash. Forensic experts say that they found 283 unique DNA profiles at the crash site. This does not mean that these are all victims of the plane crash, however, as there could be DNA from recovery workers or residents of the surrounding area.

During the gathering, the surviving relatives were also informed with more detail how the entire process of investigation, repatriation and identification works. In this way, Victor Jammers, of the council from Victim Aid Netherlands (Slachtofferhulp Nederland), believes the families gain more understanding of how hard the involved parties are working.

Jammers says that many families are asking questions about damage claims, and others want to know if it is possible to visit the crash site in eastern Ukraine. Considering the current war situation in the area, this will not be possible yet.

[Tweet:] "Surviving relatives MH17 informed by Cabinet, on this photo, Rutte arrives in Nieuwegein."

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