The Malaysian Government has declared August 22 as a day of mourning for souls of 15 citizens who died in the crash of the Malaysian Airlines (flight MH17) on July 17.
August 22nd will be a national day of mourning, as the country expects to receive the first batch of remains of Malaysian victims aboard flight MH17 on the same day, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in remarks published by the daily press on Friday.
He said the bodies of 15 Malaysians will be flown home on a special flight out of Amsterdam, and is scheduled to touch down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 10 a.m. (local time). The flight will also carry the remains of one Dutch citizen, who will be buried here at the request of the victimآ’s family.
Upon arrival, the remains of each victim will be carried off the plane by members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and placed in a hearse during a brief ceremony to be organised as a mark of respect for the fallen. "Before (the hearses) start their journeys, we will have a moment of silence... we hope all Malaysians nationwide will observe this moment of silence together," Muhyiddin said of the ceremony, which will be televised live.
A total of 283 passengers and 15 crew died when flight MH17 was reportedly shot out of the sky while flying over the troubled East Ukraine on July 17. The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, was initially believed to have been downed by a surface-to-air missile.