MH17 TRAGEDY: IMAM RECALLS CHALLENGES IN NETHERLANDS

By Mohd Fakri Awang Lah

MELAKA, July 17 (Bernama) -- A decade has passed since Hazarudin Baharudin left the Netherlands to perform the last rites for the MH17 tragedy Muslim victims, but memories of his 45 days in Europe remain fresh in his mind.

The Deputy Mufti of Melaka said he led a team of three other individuals and departed for Europe in early September after the first team returned.

Hazarudin, who was then serving as the Grand Imam of the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya, said it was among the greatest challenges throughout his career at the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.

"My team consisted of two men, including myself, and two women, and we stayed at a hotel in The Hague throughout our mission there, handling the remains of 13 Muslim victims of the tragedy.

"We were assisted by two members of the Malaysian Armed Forces Religious Corps (KAGAT), forensic officers and officials from the Malaysian Embassy in the Netherlands," he told Bernama here today.

His team proceeded to bathe and shroud the bodies immediately upon receiving approval from the forensic experts dispatched by the government to identify each victim.

"In the Netherlands, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) management rented a place, Monuta Innemee, to facilitate the management of bodies for both Muslims and non-Muslims.

"Before departure, my team was provided with shrouds and adequate equipment," he said.

Hazarudin said in the Netherlands, his team carried out the last rites for the remains from Monday to Thursday each week after obtaining confirmation from the relevant authorities.

Hazarudin said one memory that stuck in his mind was when he came upon several bodies that were still intact despite the aircraft being shot down by rebel groups in Ukraine.

"That is a sign of Allah's greatness. The bodies were preserved as a reminder to us," he said.

The Boeing 777 MH17 aircraft departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, at 12.31 pm local time (7:31 pm Malaysia time) before Ukrainian Air Traffic Control informed MAS that they had lost contact with the aircraft several hours later.

The plane exploded after being hit by a guided missile and crashed, resulting in the deaths of all 283 passengers from 17 countries, including 198 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 38 Australians and 10 others from the United Kingdom, as well as 15 crew members of MAS.

-- BERNAMA