‘Bring my babies back now Mr Putin’

ACROSS The Netherlands the atmosphere is as flat as the terrain. In the streets people spontaneously hug, families carry bouquets.

ACROSS The Netherlands the ­atmosphere is as flat as the terrain. In the streets people spontaneously hug, families carry bouquets ready to knock on the door of a neighbour.

At the makeshift memorial in front of Schiphol Airport where MH17 departed, an eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair attempted to throw her teddy bear into the sea of flowers, balloons and lit candles.

Her aim went askew and three strangers nearby couldn’t stop a sudden flood of tears. They faced the written tributes in ­silence, rubbing each other’s backs.

Soon after three KLM stewardesses added their flowers, and their quiet tears, to the scene. One had known a victim on the flight.

From the hamlet of Neerkant, which lost a family of six, to Rijpwetering, which lost a footballing couple, the country that lost 193 people on MH17 is in mourning, but that initial disbelieving numbness is wearing off.

In its place is distraught anger, exacerbated by the frustration of not knowing when they can lay their loved ones to rest.

Silene Fredriks came to the memorial with her husband Robbert and family to lay the flowers that a Balinese hotel had sent on hearing of the disaster. Her son Bryce, 23, and his girlfriend Daisy Oehlers, 20, were going to Bali on holiday and the flowers had been at the foot of the bed to welcome them. Ms Fredriks was fuming.

“Bring me my babies back Mr Putin,’’ she cried. The looters could have the couple’s possessions, their phones, their money. But not their bodies. “They love each other, they died together, they will be buried together. Here, right here. Please get those bodies out of there.’’

Prime Minister Mark Rutte has hardened his approach — from initially urging caution about who the perpetrators might have been to a third direct phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding unfettered access to the site for his team of investigators.

Overnight Mr Rutte and members of the Dutch royal family met the victims’ families to update them on the latest developments. Bringing the bodies home would take some time, they were told.

Mr Rutte has responded to the public demands for action. He was asked during his latest press conference what delay was acceptable for the Dutch waiting for the bodies to be returned.

“Zero,’’ he said.

“Nothing is acceptable. All this should be done two days ago. But we are working as hard as possible to ensure a quick repatriation.”

The Dutch want NATO troops or UN peacekeepers to guard the wreckage until a proper investigation has been complete. De Telegraaf has urged special forces to be sent to track down the perpetrators of the mass murder and bring them to The Netherlands to face justice.