(VOVworld) – A solemn ceremony was held in the Netherlands on Wednesday to mourn for victims of the Malaysian airliner MH17 downed in eastern Ukraine on July 17^th. People across the Netherlands observed minutes of silence while airports and public transportation means halted their activities. All Dutch television and radio stations stopped their entertainment programs and flags flown at half-mast outside the government buildings to mourn the victims.  

Members of the Dutch royal family and Prime Minister Mark Rutte watched the coffins leave the planes. Photo: AP

The victims’ bodies were transported to a military base in Hilversum for forensic identification. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that victims’ relatives will be informed as soon as identification results are announced, noting that it would take weeks or even months to complete the task.

In another development, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held a phone conversation on Thursday to speed up international investigations on the MH17 plane crash. The Dutch Security Council confirmed that MH17 black boxes handed over by the pro federalists in eastern Ukraine have been kept intact. The black boxes are being decoded at the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough in central England. Decoded data will be sent back to the Netherlands for public announcement.