KUALA LUMPUR: THE remains of some 70 per cent of the 298 passengers and crew on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have been identified and most repatriated back to their respective homelands.
The Netherlands Security and Justice Ministry said, as of Saturday, the remains of 211 people were identified since the July 17 tragedy.
In a statement, they said investigators had identified 18 bodies last week, with 11 of them being Dutch citizens.
The ministry did not reveal the nationalities of the other seven. However, it was understood four of the seven were the Malaysians mentioned by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai on Sunday.
Liow had said they were the two children of Shell employee Tambi Jiee, identified as Muhammad Afzal, 17, and 15-year-old Marsha Azmeena Tambi, Gerakan Kota Damansara deputy youth chief Liew Yau Chee, 38, and Shaikh Mohd Noor Mahmood, 44, the final crew member.
He had said all four remains were expected to be brought back on Thursday.
However, Liow had said only two of the four had been released from the military medical centre in Hilversum, as the government had yet to approve the release of the other two bodies.
Last Tuesday, the remains of Tambi Jiee and infant Benjamin Lee were the latest two Malaysian victims repatriated home from the Netherlands.
A total of 35 remains of victims on board MH17 have been reunited with loved ones in Malaysia, including two Dutch nationals.