There are 20 more passengers who were on board the gunned down Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 yet to be verified their nationalities, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said today.
"The nationalities of 21 passengers have been verified, and 20 remain to be verified," he told a press conference at Sama Sama Hotel in Putrajaya Friday.
He revealed that the latest breakdown of known nationalities of those on board are 173 from the Netherlands, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine from the United Kingdom, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one New Zealander.
Liow said the victims' immediate members and next-of-kin were already informed of the unfortunate incident but they will not be flown to Ukraine.
However, he said the airline has arranged for some 40 staff to be flown to Amsterdam, to support the families.
Meanwhile, Liow also said a special international investigation team will be formed to investigate the incident.
"As set out in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 13, the Ukrainian government will institute the investigation into the circumstances of the accident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation," he said.
He said all updates will be provided to the next-of-kin by the investigating authority and that Malaysia offers its full and unqualified support to the investigation.
Liow said Malaysia has been formally invited to participate, and will send two senior accredited representatives to assist the probe.
The aircraft, carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew was on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in Ukraine after it was reportedly shot at.
The Boeing-777 aircraft left Amsterdam at 12.15pm (local time) and was expected to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here at 6.10am Friday.
"The nationalities of 21 passengers have been verified, and 20 remain to be verified," he told a press conference at Sama Sama Hotel in Putrajaya Friday.
He revealed that the latest breakdown of known nationalities of those on board are 173 from the Netherlands, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine from the United Kingdom, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one New Zealander.
Liow said the victims' immediate members and next-of-kin were already informed of the unfortunate incident but they will not be flown to Ukraine.
However, he said the airline has arranged for some 40 staff to be flown to Amsterdam, to support the families.
Meanwhile, Liow also said a special international investigation team will be formed to investigate the incident.
"As set out in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 13, the Ukrainian government will institute the investigation into the circumstances of the accident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation," he said.
He said all updates will be provided to the next-of-kin by the investigating authority and that Malaysia offers its full and unqualified support to the investigation.
Liow said Malaysia has been formally invited to participate, and will send two senior accredited representatives to assist the probe.
The aircraft, carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew was on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in Ukraine after it was reportedly shot at.
The Boeing-777 aircraft left Amsterdam at 12.15pm (local time) and was expected to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here at 6.10am Friday.
