Vehicles to be stopped at Penang bridges for minute's silence

Traffic from the mainland heading to Penang island will be stopped at the toll plazas of the two bridges during the one minute of silence to honour the victims of the MH17 tragedy today, police said on Thursday. Penang Traffic Police chief Supt Ibrahim Abu Bakar said this was in keeping with a request by Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek for Malaysians to observe the minute's silence after the remains of 20 of the Malaysian victims arrive at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang. The minute's silence may begin at anytime from 10.30am, depending on the arrival of the special aircraft bearing the remains from the Netherlands. Ibrahim advised the people to abide by the instructions of the traffic policemen on duty. The remains of 20 of the 43 Malaysians who were killed in the air tragedy on July 17 are scheduled to be flown in at about 10am today to KLIA where military honours would be accorded to the victims at the grounds of the Bunga Raya Complex. Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd (PBSB) senior operations manager Asnor Ali said staff of the company would also hold a prayer session. Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) assistant manager of public relations and communications, Azizi Azizan said vehicles using the Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge would be stopped for a minute at the Batu Kawan toll plaza once the time for the one-minute silence is announced. "We will also convey condolences to the MH17 tragedy victims via the Variable Message System (VMS) as a reminder for motorists," he said. Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Penang ferry service said the ferry services would operate as usual but an announcement would be made for the passengers to observe the minute's silence at the designated time. Flight MH17 went down 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. Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 people on board.