The bodies of the first victims from a Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine last week arrived on Wednesday at a military base in the Netherlands, a nation in shock and sorrow, according to The Associated Press.
Bells pealed and flags flew at half mast in memory of the 298 people killed when flight MH17 came down in an area of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists, in the first national day of mourning since wartime Queen Wilhelmina died in 1962, the AP reported.
King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte joined dignitaries on the tarmac as two military aircraft carrying 40 plain wooden coffins landed at Eindhoven in the southern Netherlands, according to the AP. A military guard of honour stood to attention as a trumpeter played The Last Post, the military funeral call for people killed in war.
Relatives of some of the victims were present at the airport but were shielded from the media glare, officials said, the AP reported.
Thousands of people lined the 62 mile route, watching from motorway bridges as the cortege travelled from Eindhoven to the military base at Hilversum where the bodies will remain until they can be identified, a task that could take months, according to the AP.
As the cortege passed, drivers spontaneously stopped their cars and watched silently from the side of the motorway, the AP reported. Some clapped in tribute, others threw flowers on the hearses.
The process will be repeated many times over coming days as the bodies of all the victims are brought home, according to the AP.
Amid United States accusations that the rebels shot the civilian plane down in error with a Russian-supplied missile, an opinion poll showed an overwhelming majority of the Dutch want sanctions imposed on Moscow, even if it hurts their own economy, the AP reported.
Investigators in a lab in southern England began studying the plane's black box recorders Wednesday in hopes of finding clues to what happened, according to the AP.
The Dutch Safety Board, which has taken control of the investigation, said the voice recorder suffered damage but showed no sign of manipulation, and its recordings were intact, the AP reported. Specialists will start studying the flight data recorder Thursday.
