Bodies of 20 Malaysian MH17 victims repatriated

The bodies of 20 Malaysians killed when a jet was shot down over Ukraine in July have arrived in Kuala Lumpur.

It was the first repatriation of victims from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) to the country.

The government has urged people to wear black and observe a minute of silence and prayer.

A charted Malaysian Airlines jet arrived at the international airport from Amsterdam, where the bodies of all the victims were first taken.

All 298 people onboard died when the plane was shot down over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists as it flew to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.

The victims included 43 Malaysians and 195 Dutch nationals.

Remains of other Malaysian passengers will be repatriated later this month. Some of the remains received today were transferred to military aircraft to be flown to the victims' hometowns across Malaysia, while others were placed in white hearses. Three of the victims were cremated in the Netherlands and their ashes were brought back on today's flight.

“Malaysia Airlines is deeply saddened by this devastating tragedy,” the company said in a statement today. “It has been a long and painful wait for the families and friends of the passengers and crew onboard MH17.”

Other nationalities on board the downed flight included people from Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.

The tragedy was the second air disaster for the nation in five months. In March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, with 239 passengers and crew on board, sparking the longest search for a missing jetliner in modern aviation history.

That plane hasn’t been found.

Agencies