KHARKIV: Six more coffins holding remains of the victims from downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were today flown out of east Ukraine for The Netherlands, officials said.
Dutch and Ukrainian officials held a memorial ceremony at the airport in the city of Kharkiv for the last batch of human remains due to be transported this year.
“It was a very important ceremony, very important for the relatives, families and friends of the victims of this enormous tragedy,” said Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten.
The Boeing 777 was blown out of the sky on July 17 over rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board, including 193 citizens of The Netherlands.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supplying pro-Kremlin insurgents with the missile that shot down the jet but Moscow and the separatists deny they were responsible and have instead pointed the finger at Kiev.
The Dutch-led probe team has so far identified 289 of the victims and is set to transport the wreckage of the plane by road to the Netherlands for further investigation.
Kharkhiv governor Igor Baluta said that the debris of the downed jet would be loaded onto trucks for transportation westwards Saturday and would depart from east Ukraine in the near future.
Recovery work at the crash site has now been halted for the winter but searches will resume again in March, Baluta said.
-- AFP
Malaysia Airlines loses widen in wake of disasters
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28, 2014 (AFP) -
Crisis-stricken Malaysia Airlines said Friday its third-quarter loss widened 54 percent in the wake of two devastating air disasters that have sent its business into a tailspin and prompted a government rescue.
The company’s net loss for the three months ending September 30 reached 575.6 million ringgit ($170 million), expanding from a 373.2 million ringgit deficit in the same period last year.
The result marks the seventh straight quarterly loss for Malaysia Airlines, which already had struggled to stay competitive even before the mysterious loss of flight MH370 and the July 18 shooting down over Ukraine of flight MH17.
MH370 disappeared with 239 people aboard, while all 298 passengers aboard MH17 were killed.
In a filing to Malaysia’s stock exchange, the airline blamed “the double impact of the MH370 and MH17 incidents and the continued intensified (industry) competition” for a worsening performance that also saw operating revenue fall 12 percent to 3.3 billion ringgit.
“Malaysia Airlines continues to struggle despite efforts to reduce the financial bleeding,” it said.
The company’s crisis has prompted a Malaysian government bailout.
State investment fund Khazanah Nasional, which owns around 70 percent of the carrier, in August announced plans to acquire the remaining shares, de-list the airline, and try to resuscitate it.
The company would slash 6,000 jobs – 30 percent of it’s workforce – trim its route network, and replace its CEO, Khazanah said, and it will pump 6 billion ringgit into the carrier, hoping to bring it back to profitability.
The carrier has controversially been kept aloft for years by transfusions of public money while posting huge losses, with analysts blaming poor management, unwise business decisions, and government meddling.
MH370 inexplicably diverted from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing course in March. Malaysia’s government believes it went down in the Indian Ocean, but no trace has been found.
The government and airline came under fierce global criticism over their failure to account for the jumbo jet, a slow-footed response and accusations of secrecy.
Western leaders say MH17 was shot down by pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine. An investigation is ongoing.
Malaysia Airlines previously had a solid safety record.
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