Malaysia Airlines confirms 298 dead in the Flight MH 17 Crash

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airlines has today confirmed that there were 298 people on-board flight MH17 which crashed in Ukraine Thursday.

According to a statement, MH17 was carrying 283 passengers, including three infants of various nationalities, and 15 Malaysian crew members, the Malaysian Star reported.

The identified passengers and crew comprised 154 Dutch, 43 Malaysians including 15 members, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine British, four German, four Belgians, three Filipinos and one Canadian.

The nationalities of 41 passengers are yet to be determined.

The airlines is currently in the process of notifying the next-of-kin of the passengers and crew.

“Malaysia Airlines is deploying its ‘Go Team’ to Amsterdam with a group of caregivers and volunteers to assist the family members of the passengers,” the statement said.

The former president of the International AIDS Society, Joep Lange, was among those killed. He had been involved in HIV treatment and research for more than 30 years, working for the World Health Organization.

The Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysia Airlines MH17 passenger plane crashed Thursday near the Russian border, with all the 298 passengers and crew members on board reportedly killed.

The flight took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.