MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Malaysia will declare a day of mourning when the bodies of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash victims are repatriated, Malaysian newspaper The Star Online reported Friday, citing a statement by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“We will declare the day as a day of mourning for the whole country and I'm hoping to be there to receive the Malaysian bodies when they arrive,” Razak was quoted as saying by The Star Online.
The prime minister said he had expressed his condolences to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the people of the Netherlands when he met Rutte during a working visit on Thursday.
The newspaper noted that the two prime ministers were dedicated to working together at the crash site.
“I also wanted to make this visit to show our seriousness in finding out what really happened. We need to know the truth,” Razak said, according to the newspaper.
Razak also praised the Dutch authorities’ organization of a formal ceremony to receive the victims’ remains when they arrived last week from Ukraine. He said that without the bodies repatriated it would be hard for those grieving to find closure.
The Malaysia Airlines aircraft flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board died. Ukrainian authorities have accused independence supporters of shooting down the plane, but they responded that they did not possess the means to shoot down a plane at that height.
The cause of the crash is still not clear, as international experts have been unable to reach the crash site for several days due to heavy fighting between the Ukrainian Army and independence supporters.
According to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s website, agreements have been signed with the Netherlands and Australia, under which an international investigative mission will be allowed to access the crash site.
