A SOLEMN air enveloped the Monuta Innemee funeral home in ’S-Gravanhage here yesterday as the bodies of five victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 tragedy were given a final send-off by their loved ones.
Mourners wept in dignified silence as incense filled the air and chants from Buddhist monks rang out, with five caskets containing the remains of four Malaysians and one Dutch national laid out at the end of the hall.
The prayers, to prepare the bodies for cremation, were led by Malaysian Buddhist leader Sin Kan, who was accompanied by monks from Thailand and the Netherlands.
Present were Malaysian Taoist leader Tan Bon Sin and Malaysian Sikh religious leader Sardar Harcharan Singh, who offered silent prayers for the deceased.
The ceremony, which began at 8am, lasted 1½ hours.
The hall was filled to the brim, with some mourners standing on the sidelines to witness the ceremony.
The monks from Malaysia, Thailand and the Netherlands took turns to lead the prayers for the deceased.
As chants rang out, some in attendance were seen mourning, as plaques bearing the names of their loved ones, written in Chinese, were displayed in front of the caskets.
After the prayers were concluded, the caskets were brought out to waiting hearses, which transported them to a private crematorium in Zoetermeer, 26km from the funeral home.
In accordance with the families’ request, the victims’ next of kin were allowed to escort the caskets to the crematorium to bid a final farewell.
The families were accompanied by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Wee Ka Siong, who is tasked with managing the return of the remains to Malaysia.
He said two other Malaysian victims had been identified by the forensic team based at the Hilversum military base here.
The information, he said, had been relayed to him by the Malaysian embassy in the Netherlands on Monday night.
Wee said the latest discovery brought the total number of Malaysian victims identified to 28 since July 22, when the remains recovered at the MH17 crash site in the Ukraine were transferred to the Netherlands.
“The latest two people identified were a man and a child.
“Having been positively identified, they will be transferred to the Monuta Innemee funeral home in ’S-Gravanhage here for documentation processing and approval to be returned home to Malaysia,” he said here yesterday.
However, Wee declined to disclose the identities of the two.
Asked about the number of victims that would be returned home, he said it was hoped that 22 bodies would be brought back to Malaysia via a special MAS flight on Thursday.
Eighteen bodies, he said, would be in caskets, while the cremated remains of four others would be in urns.
“We can confirm that 22 victims will be flown home to Malaysia.
“However, there could be changes, depending on developments.”
The bodies are expected to be sent to the Schiphol International Airport mortuary for safekeeping until the flight’s departure.
Earlier, the bodies were supposed to have been sent to the airport from Monuta Innemee.
Wee said this was to ensure there were no delays in getting the remains aboard the aircraft.
He said the transfer of the bodies to the airport’s mortuary was expected to be done by today at the latest.
The special flight is expected to depart from Amsterdam at 2pm (local time) and arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 8am on Friday.
The victims’ next of kin are expected to board an earlier flight to enable them to receive the bodies at KLIA, in conjunction with the national day of mourning in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that a second group of bodies of Malaysian victims had been released from the Hilversum military base after forensic work on them were completed.
Sources said the bodies had been sent to the Monuta Innemee funeral home for documentation processing and would be returned to Malaysia on an unknown date.
-NST
