Georgia pays tribute to victims of flight MH17

Georgia is joining the world in offering its condolences to the Dutch nation and all families of those who were on board Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.

To show Georgia’s support, a book of condolence has been put in place at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Georgia.

Since the July 17 tragedy, Georgian nationals have written in the book and expressed their sadness and sympathies to the Dutch nation and all on board the ill-fated flight.

"It was awful tragedy and we care immensely about the families and relatives of those who died in the accident,” Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia Hans Horbach said.

"We opened the book of condolence on Friday and many Georgian politicians and citizens have come and expressed their sympathy. I would like to thank them for their support,” Ambassador Horbach said.

Meanwhile in a further show of support, groups representing Georgian non-governmental organisations gathered at the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgia and stood in solidarity.

The Boeing 777 was brought down over Ukrainian territory, controlled by pro-Russian separatists, after it was hit by a surface-to-air missile. The plane was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was carrying 298 passengers and crew.

There were no survivors among the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board.

The victims included 192 Dutch, 29 Malaysians, 28 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Vietnamese, three Filipinos and one person each from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

BBC reports the bodies of the victims were being placed into bags and loaded into refrigerated trains, which were now parked at Torez train station in eastern Ukraine. Dutch investigators had reached the train station and were examining the bodies.