MH17 chief stewardess buried on son's birthday

"Bonda 'fly', kapal terbang meletup" (Mother 'fly', aeroplane exploded) - that's the response given Aqil Raif Mohd Raflis, who celebrates his sixth birthday today (Friday), when asked about his mother, Azrina Yaakob, the Chief Stewardess of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17.

"Although still very young to understand, he knows what happened," said a cousin of Azrina who wished to be identified only as Kak Chik Rose, 51.

She said Aqil Raif was the older sibling of Azrina's two children. The other is a daughter, three-year-old Arissa Raisha.

Meanwhile, Azrina's father, Yaakob Silam Sudin, 73, said he felt relief that his daughter's remains had been brought home and buried.

He said the family decided to bury Azrina's remains here so that she would always be near her children, who were now being looked after by their father, Mohd Raflis Mohd Tahir, 43.

Azrina's mother, Habibah Ismail, 65, said the family expressed gratitude to all quarters for bringing back Azrina's remains, as well as for making all the arrangements leading to her burial Friday.

"Now, everything is settled. I'll be here (Taiping) for three days for the tahlil before returning to Alor Setar," she said.

Azrina's remains were buried at Tanah Perkuburan Masjid Al-Hidayah, Jalan Muzaffar Shah, Assam Kumbang here.

At the funeral ceremony, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa handed over the national flag to Habibah.

Earlier, Raja Jaafar was at the Tekah Airport in Assam Kumbang to wait for the arrival of Azrina's remains.

The EC725 helicopter carrying Azrina's remains landed at the airport at 12.34pm and the casket was then taken to the Al-Hidayah Mosque for prayer.

Azrina joined MAS as a stewardess in 1992.

Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.