Tuesday, 18/07/2017 16:43 (GMT+7)
The Netherlands on July 17th unveiled a national monument in memory of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 tragedy.
Scene of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 tragedy (Photo: EPA/VNA)
The event, attended by King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, unveiled the 25-metre-long monument in a park in the village of Vijfhuizen, near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Dutch politicians and around 2,000 relatives also attended.
A total of 298 trees have been planted in the shape of a green ribbon, one for each of the victims who died on board the Malaysia Airlines flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The names of all 298 passengers and crew killed in the disaster were read out by their families, and 17 local children laid flowers.
Funded by donations, the project was designed by artist Ronald A. Westerhuis and landscape architect Robbert de Koning, after it was chosen out of three proposals by relatives in late 2015.
All 298 passengers and crew died when the Boeing 777-200ER flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17th, 2014.
Victims came from 17 countries, and included 196 Dutch citizens./.
Compiled by BTA