First anniversary to commemorate MH17 tragedy in July - Liow

Malaysia will hold the first anniversary to commemorate the tragedy involving the crash of flight MH17 which was shot down in eastern Ukraine in July.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the matter would be presented in the cabinet meeting next Wednesday for further action.

Apart from Malaysia, he said Netherlands and Australia would also hold similar anniversaries in their respective countries.

"Netherland will hold the anniversary to commemorate the MH17 tragedy on July 17 while Australia will also have it in the same month (July)," he told reporters at the Yoga Morning Exercise programme at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Bercham here today.

He said Malaysia Airlines was ready to bear the expenses for the families of the tragedy's victims wishing to attend the anniversary celebration in the Netherlands.

On the Interim Report prepared by the security investigation team, Liow said it should be released before the anniversary.

He said the investigation team needed to analyse the incident as the people wanted to know the truth, including who shot down flight MH17.

Flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine last July 17, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.