MH17: 80-year-old grandpa and a backpack with MAS flight number tag

VIJFHUIZEN: An eighty-year-old man was seen carrying a blue backpack with the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight number attached, and he shared that the backpack held sentimental value.

Anton Kotte, who carried the backpack with the word “REMCO,” said his six-year-old grandson took it for a holiday when he was travelling with his parents on the MH17 flight on July 17, 2014.

"Half a year after the plane crash, the authority called and asked me if I wanted to take it (backpack) home. I said yes. They bring it to my house. They showed me this bag. It is my youngest grandchild’s bag.

"His belongings, such as toy cars, pencils and books, were inside the bag. There were no scratches on his bag. I received the bag in good condition. It was not burned or damaged in the crash. It’s a miracle," he said, adding that the backpack is the most important memory of his youngest grandchild.

Ten years ago, Kotte, who was 70 then, said he lost his son Oscar, daughter-in-law Miranda and grandson Remco Kotte in the MH17 tragedy.

"I’m now 80 years old, and I am still alive today, but the life of my son had been taken away violently. That's not a good feeling. They were innocent,” he said emotionally after the ceremony.

Earlier, more than 1,500 relatives and friends from around the world gathered at the 10th commemoration held in the National Monument MH17 at Vijfhuizen Park, near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, to pay tribute to the victims.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands also attended the ceremony.

To witness the historic events, five Malaysian media representatives, including the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), have been invited to participate in the three-day remembrance programmes starting on July 15.

The programme includes events and site visits designed to provide an in-depth understanding of the ongoing efforts and cooperation between the Netherlands and Malaysia in the aftermath of the MH17 disaster.

The Boeing 777 was shot down over eastern Ukraine after taking off from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members onboard on July 17, 2014.

On November 17, 2022, the Hague District Court in absentia sentenced two former Russian intelligence agents, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinskiy, along with a Ukrainian separatist leader, Leonid Kharchenko, to life in prison after finding them guilty on charges of causing the crash of MH17 and the murders of all 298 people on board.

Another Russian, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted of the same charges. – Bernama