Quarter of trees in MH17 forest monument dead

Eighty of the 298 trees planted at the National MH17 Monument in Vijfhuizen Park next to Schiphol Airport, have died. One tree was planted for each victim who died in the disaster with the Malaysia Airlines flight.

"We already noticed it this spring, when most of the trees started to grow, a part stopped", Sjaak de Ligt, coordinator fo the MH17 Foundation, said to NH Radio. "We immediately informed the relatives of the trees in question that something was wrong with the tree growth." He called these conversations difficult. "People identify themselves with the tree."

An investigation will be launched next month to find out what went wrong with the trees that died. If all goes well, new trees will be planted in December so that each victim will have a tree again.

Flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine on July 17th, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed, including 196 Dutch.