Relatives of MH17 victims hope remains arrive before Hari Raya

KUALA LUMPUR — Families of MH17 passengers are hoping that the remains of their loved ones will be brought home before the Hari Raya celebrations.

Mr Ahmad Reza Abdullah, who is an uncle of stewardess Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh, 31, told Bernama that the family wishes for her remains to be buried in their village in Penang.

He also thanked the government for its untiring efforts in retrieving and bringing home the Malaysian victims.

“We hope the process will be smooth and that Nur Shazana’s remains can arrive home before Aidilfitri,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday (July 22).

Bernama said Nur Shazana’s mother, Ms Sharom Ibrahim, 57, expressed anxiety over reports that only 282 of the 298 bodies had been recovered.

“We cannot be sure that Shazana’s remains have been found. As long as all the bodies are not found, I am distressed,” she said.

Bernama quoted Ms Sharom as saying that an MAS representative had taken blood samples from her and Shazana’s father, as well as a younger sibling for DNA purposes.

Ms Maimon Sarpan, 74, whose son, Mohamad Ghafar Abu Bakar, 54, was the in-flight supervisor on MH17, hoped that his remains could be brought home and properly buried.

“I want his remains buried here so that I can see his grave,” she told Bernama.

Mr Najib Razak told a press conference at Seri Perdana, Putrajaya yesterday, that he had spoken to Mr Alexander Borodai, the commander of the pro-Russian separatists who control the region where the tragedy occurred, and had reached an agreement on certain matters.

Bernama reported these as:

Firstly, 282 bodies now in Torez would be transferred by train to Kharkiv before being flown to Amsterdam on a Dutch C130 Hercules aircraft. After completion of the forensic process, the remains of Malaysian citizens would be flown home.

Secondly, on Monday, two black boxes were handed over and will be in the custody of the Malaysian team at Donetsk.

Thirdly, independent international investigators would be assured security to enter the tragedy site and conduct a full investigation.

Nur Shazana and Mohamad Ghafar were among 15 crew on MH17 which crashed in east Ukraine on Thursday while on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER