GEORGE TOWN: Penang is to fly flags at half-mast for three days from today as a mark of respect for the victims of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 which crashed in Ukraine yesterday.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government regarded the MH17 incident a massacre and called for an international probe to bring justice to the families of the victims.
Lim said he had been informed that three of the passengers were from Penang, and added that the state government was prepared to extend assistance to the families.
He also said that the flags were also flown at half-mast as a mark of respect for the passengers and crew of MAS Flight MH370 which disappeared while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8.
MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Ukraine. It was carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said early today that Ukrainian authorities believe that the Boeing 777 was shot down.
MH17 had left Amsterdam at 12.15 pm (Netherlands time) Thursday and was to have arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10 am (Malaysian time) Friday.
– BERNAMA