KIEV, July 18 — Governments from the US to the Netherlands and France sought to ascertain if citizens from their countries were among passengers on the Malaysian Air plane that crashed over eastern Ukraine, as grieving relatives began gathering at the airports on both ends of the planned route.
Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said the crash involved victims from many countries, including from the Netherlands, where the Boeing aircraft had originated in Amsterdam en route to Kuala Lumpur. Grieving families that arrived at the airport were led away by officials, while at the other end in the Malaysian capital, people also gathered at the terminus, saying they had family and friends on the flight.
The Malaysian Air jet, carrying 295 people, went down in the eastern town of Torez, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Russian border, with television footage showing a wide field of smoking debris, and local bystanders holding up passports belonging to both Dutch and Malaysian travelers, among them youths from the Netherlands.
President Barack Obama said his administration is working to find out if Americans were on board, with Ukraine Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak putting the number of US citizens on the flight at 23. France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters Flight 17 may have carried at least four French citizens.
‘Deeply Shocked’
Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, said he is returning home after a vacation to monitor the situation adding much of the cause and circumstances of the incident remained unclear. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport plans to host a press conference later today to brief on the developments.
“I’m deeply shocked about the tragic reports on the crash of flight MH17 of Malaysia Airlines from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur above Ukrainian territory,” he said in a statement.
Dutch travel agent D-Reizen said it had 21 clients booked on the jet, while World Tickets Center and Vliegtickets.nl owner Rob Rus said about 30 Dutch-speaking people had tickets for the flight. Dutch King Willem Alexander says he’s “deeply affected by terrible news.”
There may be at least one Indonesian on MH17, according to Herman Prayitno, the country’s ambassador to Malaysia, who said family members have contacted officials.
Malaysian Air said it was informed by Ukrainian air traffic control that contact was lost with MH17 about 50 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border. The flight carried 280 passengers and 15 crew.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein have gathered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The incident is the second tragedy since March involving a Malaysian Air Boeing Co 777, a wide-body airliner capable of long-distance routes. Another plane by the airline went missing earlier this year without a trace, and no debris has yet been found despite the longest search mission in civil aviation history. — Bloomberg
