First MH17 bodies arrive safely

Paying respects ... Retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston looks on a coffin is carried during a ceremony at Kharkiv Aiport, Ukraine. Picture: Dave Hunt Source: AAP

THE first important step in Operation Bring Them Home was underway early this morning as the initial group of bodies from the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived safely — and with a carefully orchestrated dignified ceremony — to The Netherlands.

In stark contrast to the distressing treatment of the bodies so far, the Dutch handling of the ceremony was respectful, simple and poignant. Forty black hearses lined up to take the victims an hour's drive away to the north of the country for identification, after more than an hour of careful and quiet removal of the simple wooden caskets from the two military aircraft that had brought the bodies from the Ukraine.

More than 1000 family members, and the Australian governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove and foreign minister Julie Bishop were at Eindhoven airfield for the arrival when the planes landed last night at 11.50pm from the Ukraine. "It is important for the families and for our nation, that our people be received by one of our own," Mr Abbott said.

Leaving Ukraine ... a ceremony takes place at Kharkiv Aiport, ahead of bodies of victims of the MH17 crash being flown to The Netherlands. Picture: Dave Hunt Source: AAP

At midnight precisely the two back ends of the planes were opened and there was a minutes silence across the land. All flights at the airfield were suspended and the only noise was the tinkling of the flag poles in the gentle breeze. All of the flags of the 17 countries impacted by the disaster — some of the 298 passengers and crew had dual nationalities — were at half-mast.

A bugler played The Last Post before military personnel carefully began unloading the first of the 40 caskets and positioning them into hearses, which were slowly driven along the empty airfield past King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands and then past the relatives, believed to have included some relatives of Australians. They had been protected from the glare of the world's media by private screens, to allow them to grieve in private.

From there, a police motorcycle accompanied the convoy to Hilversum where the identification of the bodies will take place over the coming days. The two aircraft, one of which was an Australian RAAF C-17, will now fly back to the Ukraine to bring the rest of the victims home.

Sombre departure ... a coffin containing the body of a victim of the MH17 crash is loaded onto a plane for transport to The Netherlands. Picture: Brendan Hoffmann Source: Getty Images

Departure from Ukraine

The receipt of the victims' remains was in stark contrast to their treatment so far; defiled, lorded over by gunmen, and held to a tragic ransom, before beginning their journey home from Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine.

The Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston was in Kharkiv for the ceremony that marked the departure from the Ukraine to the Netherlands.

A close friend of Perth-bound Fatima Dycznczki said the return to The Netherlands meant "I can now have peace and rest in my heart''.

It is symbolic to Ms Ces De la Cruz, 32, and indeed all of the families and friends that their loved ones are returning to a country in peace: that no longer will they be lorded over by gunmen and violence.

"She is safe here," de la Cruz, from Amsterdam, says.

It could take months for Dycznczki to be returned to her crushed parents Jezy and Angela in Perth, but de la Cruz's heavy heart was lightened a little that Dycznczki was no longer a pawn in a political game.

A chance to say goodbye ... Fatima Dyczynski was on board Flight MH17, that was downed in Ukraine. Source: News Corp Australia

"I am very happy that she is coming here. I can say goodbye knowing she is back here with us. I know her parents want her, but just for a short time I can say goodbye,'' she said.

The route of 36 Australians killed on the flight will be similar.

Identification begins

Oudheusden Kazerne near Hilversum, where the bodies are to be taken from Eindhoven, is a leafy place, and the military base is in the midst of a soothing forest. A team of 150 forensic specialists has been deployed to the base to help in the identification process. More than 100 officials from various Australian agencies were in The Netherlands to support Operation Bring Them Home.

Mr Abbott has told the families of the Australian victims that once their remains have been identified, the government will bring family members to The Netherlands, if they wish, to accompany their loved ones home. The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has assured all of the families that they will be the first to be notified — and no one else — as soon as identification is obtained.

"This process will be methodical and may take some time," Mr Abbott said.

"The task of identifying the victims is a process that must be conducted carefully and accurately," he said.

"By its very nature, it may take some weeks before we can honour the dead by returning them to those they loved and those that loved them. But we will bring them home.

"Since the beginning the Government's objectives have remained firm: to retrieve the bodies, to secure the site, to conduct the investigation and to obtain justice for the victims and their families. The Australian Government will not rest until this is done."

Families mourn

Ms De la Cruz had been angered at the indignity and interference with the bodies in the immediate aftermath of the calamity.

She said her response was: "Don't touch her, I was so mad at the television, where is Fatima lying down there?''

It is a question that Dycznczki's family and friends are still struggling with. They still check her credit cards, scour the city for her car and ring her mobile to hear her smart, sassy voice.

Her memory is marked in an unusual fashion at the Schiphol Airport terminal makeshift memorial.

A sign ... a memorial to Fatima Dyczynski, who 'loved her caffeine fix', outside Schipol Airport, among the thousands of flowers. Source: News Corp Australia

Lying amid the thick blanket of sweet smelling flowers that grows ever wider each day there is a coffee cup, hand-drawn with a heart and the name "Fatima''.

Of all the tributes, pictures, notes, and the most heart wrenching of all, the stuffed animals and teddies, several clutching each other in support, a Starbucks emblem flicking in the candle light looks eminently odd, but touching.

But Dycznczki loved her daily caffeine fix, so much so she would have a tumbler-sized drink in her hand as she planned and developed her space technology company. Ms De la Cruz and Van den Boogaard had found the florists closed, and a local barista, sensing their distress came to their aid.

"It's a sign,'' said Ms de la Cruz, wiping tears.

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