MH17: Honeymoon couple escapes death after changing flight
Astro Awani
July 18, 2014 16:44 MYT
July 18, 2014 16:44 MYT
Simone La Posta and Juan Jovel was supposed to take the fateful MH17 flight on Friday, but had changed their flight to Thursday instead.
A pair of newlyweds who went for their honeymoon to the Netherlands chose to fly from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur a day earlier and did not take the MH17 flight which was shot down in Ukraine, near the Russian border.
Simone La Posta and her husband, Juan Jovel arrived in Adelaide, Australia Friday morning and received the news of the death of all the passengers and children aboard the very flight that they canceled earlier.
"We flew to KL from Amsterdam the previous day in MH17 flight," the woman said as quoted by ABC News.
"We booked the original flight, but later changed it because we didn’t want to be tired to work on Monday."
They, however, were placed on the waiting list for the Thursday flight as it was fully booked; it was only at the last minute that their flight change was confirmed.
"It's like a dream and so surreal when thinking that a day later, I would not be standing here," La Posta said.
She feels very fortunate and grateful, but at the same time is sympathetic to the fate of the MH17 passengers.
She said she updated her status on Facebook upon arriving at the airport in Adelaide at 7am local time to alert her family and friends that they survived.
Since arriving in Adelaide, the couple has been receiving a lot of messages and phone calls from family members and friends.
La Posta said the attention of loved ones made her understand what the family members of those killed in the crash are experiencing.
Jovel, meanwhile, also expressed sympathy for Malaysia Airlines in facing another tragedy this year.