SEPANG: It will be a bleak Hari Raya Aidilfitri for Noraini Md Noor and her family as her elder sister is one of the 280 passengers on board a Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which had crashed at Donestk in the Southern Ukraine, last night.
Noraini, 50, said her 67-year-old Nor Rahimah was flying alone on flight MH17, which departed from Amsterdam and crashed while en route to Kuala Lumpur.
"My sister had stayed in Geneva for about 30 years and she was supposed to be here for six weeks to celebrate the Hari Raya Aidilfitri with us.
"And now this happened.." said a teary-eyed Noraini said when met at Anjung Tinjau in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here.
Noraini from Taman Tun Dr Ismail said she learned about the incident from the news and immediately checked with MAS to get more information on the fate of her sister.
"I called MAS to get more information on what had happened (to flight MH17) but they only told me to wait.
"That was when I decided to rush to KLIA with the hope to know more about the exact situation," she said.
Hopes of the brother of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which crashed at Donestk in the Southern Ukraine were dashes upon seeing the name of his brother in the passenger manifest list this morning.
The manifest was disclosed to the next-of-kins (NOK) of the 35 Malaysians passengers and crew out of the total of 280 passengers who boarded the plane.
Zaki Mohd Salim, 34, looked dazed when he was asked by reporters questions about his brother, Mohd Ali Mohd Salkm, 30.
"The last time I spoke to him was last week on Facebook. He seemed his normal self then.
"He was supposed to return to celebrate Hari Raya with us because he does that every year.
"We were told to wait for further information from MAS and stay at the hotel allocated for us," he said before leaving.
Families of the passengers had come in groups to the Anjung Tinjau at KLIA to check on the passenger list by MAS.
A few of them expressed their disappointment over the poor management of the crisis and unorganised way of conveying information to the NOKs.
There was also a family member, whose identity could not be ascertained, vented his frustration towards police officer manning the entrance to Anjung Tinjau at KLIA
"We have waited for three hours for the list of passengers.
"We just want to check if our family members are on the flight (MH17).
"My sister and brother-in-law might be one of the passengers in the aircaft," he said.
Also sharing the frustration of the unidentified man is a family member of another passenger on-board MH17.
"We have been waiting for four hours but there has been no news or update to tell us the latest situation," said a man, in his late 20s, who had also refused to be identified.
Also present at the airport apart from the passengers was Republic of Indonesia Embassy ambassador Air Chief Marshal (R) Herman Prayitno.
Herman confirmed that there are Indonesian passengers on board of the flight.
"So far, from the information that I received, there are one passenger from Indonesia and there might be more," he said.