KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Party Gerakan’s Kota Damansara deputy Youth chief Liew Yau Chee and his wife Lee Kiah Yeen were among 298 who perished when MAS flight MH17 was shot down in Eastern Ukraine on Friday.
Gerakan secretary-general Liang Teck Meng said the couple were on a business trip to Germany last week and took the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur before the tragedy.
“I came to know about the tragedy (MH17) through Liew’s facebook two days ago and could not believe it. I waited for confirmation from friends before deciding to inform his family members,” he told Bernama today.
Liang said the couple leave behind a son aged 10 and an eight-year-old daughter.
He added that he visited Liew’s family in Mutiara Damansara yesterday with a number of journalists but the family members were not ready to face the journalist.
Liang said Gerakan President Datuk Mah Siew Keong had directed the Party’s central committee to assist Liew’s family in providing moral support and legal advice.
“Liew is an active sportsman who likes to play badminton and a very responsible party worker since joining in 2004. We play badminton every week. Now I am going to miss him,” he said.
The MAS flight, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Ukraine. It was carrying 298 people — 283 passengers and 15 crew.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said early today that Ukrainian authorities believe that the Boeing 777 was shot down.
MH17 had left Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Netherlands time) Thursday and was to have arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am (Malaysian time) Friday.
Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 passengers and crew on board. — Bernama
