Slideshow: Malaysia Air Flight 17 commemoration
This month marks one year since 298 people died when Malaysia Air Flight 17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down near the border between Russia and Ukraine in the contested area of Donetsk. Everyone on board died: 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew.
It remains unclear who shot the plane down. Dutch-led investigations are ongoing. Russia blames Ukrainian government forces. The Ukraine, and many western nations, believe pro-Russian separatists fired surface-to-air missiles that brought the plane down.
On Friday, July 17th local residents attended a religious service in the village church of Hrabove nearest to the crash site. Afterword, they proceeded to the crash site where hundreds of people held a memorial service dedicated to victims of flight MH17. FSRN’s Filip Warwick was there, and sends these photos.
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- Twelve months on, children’s playing cards still lie in the surrounding fields next to the crash site. Around twenty family groups were on board the MH17 flight. Eighty of the passengers were under the age of 18. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Twelve months on, children’s playing cards still lie in the surrounding fields next to the crash site. Around twenty family groups were on board the MH17 flight. Eighty of the passengers were under the age of 18. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Pages from a Dutch children’s book lie burnt and weathered in a field. Out of the 298 people killed on board the MH17 Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight 198 were from the Netherlands. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A white ribbon tipped wooden stick lies in a field next to the crash site. Such sticks were used by emergency workers and miners to denote MH17 passenger bodies in the surrounding fields. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Plane parts are still scattered across the crash site – among them two chemical oxygen generators from the Boeing 777-200ER. Such devices provide emergency oxygen to passengers during an emergency descent. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A memorial poem at the Hrabove crash site: “Pause and pray, Feel the minutes pass, Here fell the Boeing, And in a terrible moment, Their lives were taken” (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A memorial cross built by locals in Rosypnoe, one of three villages affected by MH17 debris. It was here the cockpit fell next to a sunflower field. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- After a memorial service held in a church in Hrabove, a procession made its way to a commemoration ceremony near the crash site. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A memorial cross built by locals in Rosypnoe, one of three villages affected by MH17 debris. It was here the cockpit fell next to a sunflower field. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Following the release of 298 white balloons to represent each passengers killed on board the fatal flight, church officials blessed the memorial. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Flags were lowered and a roll call was made of those who died in the MH17 air disaster. Citizens from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines and the United Kingdom were on board the fatal flight. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- After a memorial service held in a church in Hrabove, a procession made its way to a commemoration ceremony near the crash site. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A wreath and photos of one of the victims is attached to the Hrabove village cross. In the background is the MH17 commemoration ceremony. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Locals hold a sign which reads: “They killed you and they continue to kill us.” (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- The MH17 memorial in the village of Hrabove reads: “298 died here – innocent victims of civil war” (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko (left) and Vice Chairman of the People’s Soviet of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin (right) place flowers on the MH17 memorial. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
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- A local church official blesses the MH17 memorial in Hrabove. (Photo Credit: Filip Warwick)
