Haunting rites
Global grief on ann’y of Malaysia Air disaster
THE WIDOW of the co-pilot of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 delivered a message Friday that her late husband never got to say one year ago.
“On behalf of Malaysia Airlines and the rest of the crew, once again we would like to thank you for flying with us,” said Asmaa Aljuneda, her voice cracking. “Thank you and have a nice day.”
Hundreds of relatives and friends of the 298 people killed last July 17 when the passenger plane was blown out of the skies above rebelheld eastern Ukraine gave the grieving widow a standing ovation at a touching Dutch service for the victims.
Similar memorial ceremonies were held in Ukraine and Australia amid a growing dispute over who was responsible for downing the Boeing 777, which was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Ukrainian and Western authorities believe the plane was shot down by a missile fired by Russian-backed separatists.
Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine have asked the UN Security Council to establish an international criminal tribunal to prosecute those responsible for shooting down the plane.
Residents of Hrabove, the Ukrainian village where the airliner was shot down, marched to the crash site Friday where a small stone bears a plaque with the words: “To the memory of 298 dead, innocent victims of the civil war.”
Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, recalled the “savagery” of the attack as he unveiled a plaque in Canberra as dozens of victims’ families gathered to grieve.
Aljuneda summed up the feelings of relatives when she told them, “We do not know how much we love a person until we lose them.”