People lay flowers and light candles in front of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kiev on July 18, 2014, to commemorate passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur which crashed in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine鈥檚 prime minister said Friday that pro-Russian separatist rebels that Kiev believes shot down a Malaysian airliner with 298 people on board should face an international tribunal The Hague. AFP
SYDNEY 鈥� An Australian聽family聽has been struck by both Malaysia Airlines tragedies, losing two members of their extended聽family聽in the聽MH17聽crash four months after another couple went missing on MH370.
Maree and Albert Rizk, who were returning to Melbourne after a month-long holiday in Europe, died Thursday when聽MH17聽came down in eastern Ukraine, Australian media reported.
Maree鈥檚 father is married to a member of a Queensland聽family聽which lost husband and wife Rodney and Mary Burrows on MH370 when it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, Rodney鈥檚 brother Greg Burrows told AFP.
Burrows said he did not want to make a statement on behalf of the Rizk聽family, but said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got no ill feelings with Malaysia Airlines.鈥�
鈥淣obody could predict this one and nothing鈥檚 been proven on the first one, so there鈥檚 nothing there.
鈥淲e are still waiting for answers on the first one.鈥�
Flight聽MH17聽airline was carrying 298 people, including 28 Australians, when it came down over rebel-held territory in Ukraine, with US officials saying it appeared to have been shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
Rodney and Mary Burrows were returning from a holiday abroad with friends when they boarded MH370 in March.
鈥淭hey were beautiful people and we loved them dearly. Hopefully it was quick for them,鈥� a neighbour, who did not want to be named, told reporters at the time.
No trace has ever been found of MH370 which is thought to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
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