KUALA LUMPUR: Family members of a crew, who was killed in the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft crash in Donetsk, Ukraine last Thursday are praying that the process to bring home the remains runs smoothly.

Syaza Athirah Mohamad Azman, 22, the neice of flight MH17 chief steward Mohd Ghaffar Abu Bakar, 54, said all family members were now patiently waiting for his remains to be brought home.

“All of us are prepared for any further development while monitoring for news from within and outside the country and receving news from my late uncle’s friends in Netherlands,” she told Bernama here. She said they would return to their village in Masjid Tanah, Melaka to gather with their grandmother Maimon Sarpan, 76, while waiting for the return of the remains. — Bernama

Syaza Athirah said the Health Ministry had taken DNA samples from Mohd Ghaffar’s children, Amar Syariff, 25, and Sa’imah Baizura, 29, last night to identify the body. — Bernama

Meanwhile, she said the whole family expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for successfully negotiated with those in authority at the crash site in obtaining the bodies and aircraft’s black box. It was agreed that the 282 bodies taken out from the crash site would be flown to Amsterdam before being brought to their respective countries of origin, including Malaysia. The Boeing 777 was carrying 298 people, including 15 crew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in east Ukraine. Forty-three Malaysians were killed in the crash. – Bernama