Bridging the gap: Dr Akmal (right) speaking Russian to police personnel neat Kharkiv train station in Ukraine. He was the translator for the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash investigation team.
KUALA LUMPUR: While spending his honeymoon with his wife who was six months pregnant, Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh was called up to be a translator for the MH17 crash investigation team that headed to Ukraine a decade ago.
It was his fluency in the Russian language that necessitated the services of the paediatrician who had just been stationed at the Ampang Hospital back then.
ALSO READ: Struck numb by double disaster
“I remember being contacted by the then Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. He asked me to help out as interpreter knowing I had studied in Moscow for six years.
“I was supposed to observe Ramadan and celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri for the first time with my wife but I had to sacrifice that. I have never regretted it to this day,” he said when contacted by Bernama.
The Russian State Medical University graduate is now Umno Youth chief and state assemblyman for Merlimau in Melaka.
He recalled that despite the sadness of having to leave his wife Dr Fatin Nadirah Idrus for three weeks to join the mission, he had to put the national interest above everything else as the role of translator was crucial in the probe.“If one cannot communicate well with the authorities and locals, it will make things difficult.
ALSO READ: Aircraft sounds still rattle victim’s mother, a decade on
“I had the advantage of knowing the Russian language and understanding their culture.”
Recalling his duties, Dr Muhamad Akmal said besides assisting the press with translation work, he also helped the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) communicate with mosque officials in Ukraine to handle the remains of the victims.
“At that time, the idea to bring all the bodies to the Netherlands had not come up yet.
“The initial plan was to handle everything in Ukraine and then send the bodies back to Malaysia,” he said, adding that he was also tasked with assisting Malaysian medical officers in caring for the MH17 investigation team.
Dr Muhamad Akmal said the most challenging part was when they could not determine the final stop of the train departing from Donetsk carrying the remains of the MH17 victims, raising concerns that the mission to bring back the remains might not succeed.
“The bodies from the crash site in Donetsk, a war zone, were wrapped in plastic and placed in train carriages from Donetsk to Kharkiv, which is at the border of the war zone.
“They sent the bodies by train but didn’t specify where the train will stop. So it was our job to identify the train station.
“We asked the police and they said they didn’t know. We asked others and they also said they didn’t know. This was the most challenging part.
“Eventually, we found out the actual location of the train. It went straight to a warehouse in Kharkiv, further from the city. There, the management of the remains took place.
“They scanned the remains to ensure there were no explosives and then the bodies were flown to the Netherlands.”
Asked to elaborate further about the mission, Dr Muhamad Akmal said he could not forget the condition of the bodies.
“I can’t describe it. I saw it with my own eyes... That’s something I can’t forget to this day.”
MH17, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border on July 17, 2014, when it was shot by a missile while flying over a conflict area, killing all 298 people, including 43 Malaysians, on board.
