Plane carrying MH17 victims' remains arrives in Netherlands

The Hague, Nov 29: A Dutch military plane carrying the remains of victims onboard the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived at the Eindhoven Air Base in Netherlands on Friday.

After a ceremonial tribute attended by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and relatives of the victims, six coffins onboard the plane were transferred to the Corporal Oudheusden Barracks in Hilversum for identification, Xinhua reported.

"We stand together, we mourn with everyone and the Netherlands shows in a very special way that we sympathise with anyone who is affected by this terrible disaster," Rutte stated before he left for the ceremony.

MH17, an international passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed July 17 this year, killing 298 people, including 196 Dutch citizens. According to the previous count of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, a total of 289 victims have been identified.

MH 17 crashed on July 17 this year killing 298 passengers

The remains brought to Eindhoven were found by members of the Dutch repatriation and recovery mission, who completed the recovery of the wreckage of MH17 Nov 23.

Upon the return of the jet, no more flight is planned for now as the recovery mission has been completed and winter snow is coming to eastern Ukraine, according to a Dutch source.

The plane with six coffins departed around noon from the airport of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

IANS