The Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew - was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk near the Russian border.
Azhari and the 133 Malaysian special team members, led by Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar, who is also National Security Council (MKN) Cross Border Management Division principal assistant secretary, were scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur Friday noon (local time).
