Aunt calm when received news of delayed arrival of victim's remains

The aunt of First Officer Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Rahim, who was on Flight MH17, was calm when she received news of the delayed arrival of his remains. Rohani Che Embi, 70, said the remains of Muhamad Firdaus, 27, was initially supposed to arrive at the KL International Airport, (KLIA), Sepang, today for the ceremony honouring the victims of the MH17 tragedy. However, said Rohani, his elder sister who was now in Amsterdam, Netherlands, sent an SMS at 10.30am that he would not be among the first batch of the remains of the victims to arrive. "I was sad when I got the SMS but I accept the situation. We did not make any preparations for the last rites as it is all being done by the Hilir Perak District Office, Islamic Affairs Department (Jakim) and other agencies," she told reporters at her home, here Thursday. A representative of the district office had also met the family to inform them of the preparations to receive the remains and the burial ceremony. However, Rohani said, Muhamad Firdaus' remains would be given the final rites either at the Masjid Seri Setia or Masjid Taqwa, here before being buried at the Hilir Perak District Muslim Cemetery in Jalan Sultan Abdullah. Meanwhile, chairman (1) of the Hilir Perak District Muslim burial grounds, Shuib Bahari said preparations had already been made for the burial ceremony. "We have long made preparations and are ready to perform the burial, night or day," he said. Muhamad Firdaus grew up with Rohani since he was small until he finished schooling. Today, the remains of 20 Malaysians (11 Muslims and nine non-Muslims) who were on the ill-fated flight MH17 would be brought home from Amsterdam and due to arrive at KLIA at 10am. Flight MH17 crashed in East Ukraine on July 17 while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, while carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew members.