MH17: Another Malaysian national identified

Another Malaysian national in the doomed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 has been identified, bringing the total to 31, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said today.

He said arrangements were being made by the government to repatriate the remains of the remaining MH17 victims, with the third batch scheduled to arrive on Aug 30.

"We will continue to update the public on the arrival of the remains from time to time," he told reporters at the ceremony to honour the second batch of MH17 victims whose remains arrived at the Bunga Raya Complex, KL International Airport (KLIA) here today.

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.

So far, the remains of 23 MH17 victims have been repatriated from the Netherlands to Malaysia.

The remains of 20 of them, comprising 11 passengers and nine MAS crew, arrived here last Friday.

The second batch, involving the remains of three victims, arrived today, but only two of the victims were given military honours.

To a question whether the remains of the remaining Malaysian victims could be repatriated before Malaysia Day on Sept 16, Liow said the matter could not be confirmed yet.

Liow said family members of some of the victims requested for privacy and did not want to be involved in the ceremony.

The government respects their wish and privacy, he added.

The remains of one of the victims which arrived home today did not go through the ceremony held at the Bunga Raya Complex.

"We are aware that there are families who want privacy. What we arranged is made on requests by the family concerned," he added.

Liow said the cost of repatriation of the remains of the Malaysian nationals was borne by Malaysia Airlines.