Pictures say more than words, MH17 victims: Welcome Home
A lone bugler sounding the traditional military farewell "Last Post" marked the arrival Wednesday in the Netherlands of the first dead from the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The grieving nation then held a moment of silence to honor those killed in the crash of the jetliner, downed July 17, 2014 by a suspected surface-to-air missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine.
In a ceremony rich with martial symbolism -- from saluting soldiers to the haunting tune used to send war dead to their rest -- 40 bodies borne in simple wooden caskets were solemnly unloaded from two military planes. Soldiers then walked them to waiting hearses and lowered them inside before rendering a final salute.
The only sounds: the hushed orders of soldiers and a whipping wind.
A long line of hearses, accompanied by police, carried the remains slowly toward a Dutch military base in Hilversum, where forensic investigators will begin the grim work of identifying them. Thousands of Dutch residents lined roads and overpasses along parts of the route to pay respects to the dead.
"The Netherlands are in shock, and Hilversum, as well," said Pieter Broertjes, the city's mayor, as he waited for the bodies to arrive.
Harun Calehr, whose two nephews were among the 298 people killed in the crash, called the ceremony a "very moving and a beautiful tribute."
"It feels like we're just a big grieving family, and that somewhat helps in coping with this horrible, devastating event," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.
The somber ceremony in Eindhoven followed a moving and meaningful send-off in Ukraine. There, white-gloved Ukrainian soldiers respectfully carried the bodies of the victims to the aircraft that flew them home to a waiting Dutch king and queen on the nation's official day of mourning.
Every day, there are now around 16 o'clock two planes with victims to Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands and will there be a funeral procession to Hilversum.
.
Pictures say more than words, MH17 victims: Welcome Home
A lone bugler sounding the traditional military farewell "Last Post" marked the arrival Wednesday in the Netherlands of the first dead from the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The grieving nation then held a moment of silence to honor those killed in the crash of the jetliner, downed July 17, 2014 by a suspected surface-to-air missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine.
In a ceremony rich with martial symbolism -- from saluting soldiers to the haunting tune used to send war dead to their rest -- 40 bodies borne in simple wooden caskets were solemnly unloaded from two military planes. Soldiers then walked them to waiting hearses and lowered them inside before rendering a final salute.
The only sounds: the hushed orders of soldiers and a whipping wind.
A long line of hearses, accompanied by police, carried the remains slowly toward a Dutch military base in Hilversum, where forensic investigators will begin the grim work of identifying them. Thousands of Dutch residents lined roads and overpasses along parts of the route to pay respects to the dead.
"The Netherlands are in shock, and Hilversum, as well," said Pieter Broertjes, the city's mayor, as he waited for the bodies to arrive.
Harun Calehr, whose two nephews were among the 298 people killed in the crash, called the ceremony a "very moving and a beautiful tribute."
"It feels like we're just a big grieving family, and that somewhat helps in coping with this horrible, devastating event," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.
The somber ceremony in Eindhoven followed a moving and meaningful send-off in Ukraine. There, white-gloved Ukrainian soldiers respectfully carried the bodies of the victims to the aircraft that flew them home to a waiting Dutch king and queen on the nation's official day of mourning.
Every day, there are now around 16 o'clock two planes with victims to Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands and will there be a funeral procession to Hilversum.
.