SEPANG: A sombre atmosphere prevailed at the Bunga Raya Complex of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, near here this morning as families and friends of MH17 gathered at a memorial service to honour their loved ones, who were killed in the tragic incident.
The next of kin, who began to arrive as early as 8am, were ushered to their seats and were given a special ribbon reflecting MAS’s uniform to pin on their clothes.
A moment of silence was observed by those present at the memorial ceremony. Some 1,000 people attended the memorial ceremony. Representatives from different religious sect were also present to pay their respects for the victims.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Datuk Najib Razak in his speech said, ?although it has almost been a year after the tragedy, the effect was still felt by family and friends of the victims.
He urged the family members and friends of the victims to stay strong in facing these trying times and the days to come. Najib said he too share the same feelings for he also lost a family member in the tragedy.
“At the moment, crime investigation is still ongoing conducted by the Joint Investigation Team comprising of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. The Investigation is estimated to continue until the end of this year (2015).
“Investigators now have a clear picture on the possible cause of the crash and are currently analysing and investigating all possible scenarios.
“Malaysia has presented a resolution plan to the International Security Council to bring the party responsible of the shooting MH17 to justice.
“Dutch safety board tasked on conducting technical investigation has provided the final draft of the report to accredited representatives from countries involved on Jun 2,” he said.
He added the accredited representatives would provide their comments within 60 days. The last report on the MH17 incident will be published in early October 2015.
Present were the Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman.
Others include Transport minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Women, Family and Community Development minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim, cabinet ministers as well as MAS pilots and flight crew.
The event was being held to commemorate the first anniversary of the aircraft crash in Ukraine on July 17 last year that killed all 298 passengers and crew, among them 43 Malaysians.
Flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down over Ukraine.
-New Straits Times
