They were just kids: Where the Australian victims were sitting on the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
TWO rows. Six children. And an unimaginable horror. It is an unspeakable number — 83 of the 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 were children. Three of them babies.
TWO rows. Six children. And an unimaginable horror.
Seated together in row 17 of doomed flight Malaysia Airlines MH17 were brother and sister Mo and Evie Maslin. Their loving grandfather, Nick Norris, was just one row behind with their younger brother Otis. Across the aisle, in rows 19, were the van den Hende children Marnix, Margaux, and Piers.
The seating arrangements amplified the sad truth 83 of the 298 victims of MH17 were children, three of them babies. Many of them sitting alone without parents to hang on to, to explain what was happening. The incredibly high youth death toll amplified the horror of the day a terrorist missile took down a passenger airliner.
The parents of the Maslin children, Rin Norris and Anthony Maslin, who had decided to stay longer in Amsterdam, were due to arrive home to Australia last night to share their grief with other family members. Entire families from other countries also died, including a Malaysian couple and their two babies. In the UK, people angry about the high number of children turned their anger on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the rebel groups blamed for the missile launch.
For most of the 36 Australian victims aboard Flight MH17, their journeys from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had capped a series of dream European holidays.
Seated at the front of the plane, travelling first class in row 1, seats F and G, real estate agent Albert Rizk and his wife Marie had just spent a month travelling around Europe and, according to a work colleague, had tried to change their flight at the last minute.
Seated one row across, NSW couple Michael and Carol Clancy, from Kanahooka, south of Wollongong, were toasting retirement.
Michael, 64, had recently ended a long stint as deputy principal at Albion Park Public School while Carol, 57, taught at Lakelands Public School and Fig Tree Public School.
The couple marked their years as special needs teachers with an extensive trip through the Netherlands, Germany, France and Norway.
Carol Clancy’s devastated daughter Jane Malcolm said her mother and stepfather had opted for first-class tickets as Michael had struggled with back problems.
“I spoke to them at Sydney airport. They were excited about leaving a couple of weeks ago,” Ms Malcolm said. “It’s really hard to imagine someone wanting to hurt them.” Seated adjacent to them were Gerry and Mary Menke, a couple of pioneers of the abalone industry who were returning to their home town in Mallacoota, Victoria.
The pair had travelled to Europe to celebrate Mr Menke’s 70th birthday, a trip they regularly made to escape the chilly Mallacoota winters.
Also in Row 2, the final two Queensland victims to be identified this week, Sunshine Coast couple Theresa and Wayne Baker who were aged 53 and 55 respectively.
Parents to two sons in their 20s, the couple are believed to be originally from Darwin but were living in Buddina, just outside Mooloolaba, and had recently retired from careers working for the Northern Territory Government.
The couple were returning from a six-week holiday in Europe which was a retirement gift to each other and had a two-day break planned in Kuala Lumpur before arriving back in Australia.
A row back was Irish national Edel Mahady who was travelling solo after visiting her mother in Dublin. The mum-of-two from Palmerstown, Western Australia leaves behind husband Dermot and two children, Conor and Ciara, both in their 20s.
Several rows back from the first class section was another Queensland couple, Albany Creek’s Howard Horder and wife Susan, who had left for Europe a month ago.
According to Howard’s brother Glenn, Howard had made an ominous joke about the risk of flying Malaysia Airlines following the disappearance of MH370.
“He jokingly said, ‘I’ve only paid for one way’,” Glenn Horder said. “That’s the sort of person he was, quite the comedian. He said, ‘I might not be coming back’.” Behind them, travelling alone in seat 16A, was a Catholic nun returning from a retreat in France. Sister Philomene Tiernan had worked as a teacher at Kincoppal-Rose Bay Catholic school. Alongside her was another solo traveller, Helena Sidelik from Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.
A gregarious and fun-loving woman who, according to her brother, “loved a scotch”, 56-year-old Sidelik was returning from a wedding in Amsterdam and had emailed friends the previous night to say how much she was looking forward to coming home.
“Ready for home, boarding shortly,” was her final communication. Her brother Hans Sidelik, 59, of Upper Hermitage, said his wife rang him yesterday morning and told him the news. “The penny didn’t drop straight away and then I realised she was talking about my sister. We hope she knocks on the door ... we still don’t comprehend it,” he said.
Two rows behind Ms Sidelik and scattered across row 17 was the van den Hende family of five from Melton in outer-Melbourne. Two rows back was 68-year-old grandfather Nick Norris and the Maslin children. Nick’s son Brack, 24, described the situation as “surreal”.
In 32J was Sydney’s Jack O’Brien, who was returning from a seven-week European holiday.
“The life of our beloved son and brother, Jack, has been ended so suddenly,” his family said last night. “We are devastated at his loss, as are Jack’s extended family and friends.
“He was loved so much.”
Minns must derail the gravy train and stop culture of entitlement
Jo Haylen’s ministerial car saga this week shows Chris Minns’ government cannot afford to be tainted by a new wave of political entitlement.
Splash of vino, darl?: Car thief locked up after wine text bungle
A serial offender with more than 50 prior charges broke into a popular pub and stole thousands of bucks worth of booze before foolishly texting his lady a pic – asking if she was keen for a drop.