Malaysia Airlines MH17: Bodies of victims arrive in Kuala Lumpur

Carried by soldiers and draped in thenational flag, coffins carrying Malaysian victims of FlightMH17 returned home Friday to a country still searching for thoseonboard another doomed jet and a government battling the political falloutof the twin tragedies.

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The bodies and ashes of 20 victims from the Malaysia Airlines jetthat was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July were given fullmilitary honours and a day of national mourning was declared, the first in the country's history.

Many people in offices in the nation of 30 million observed aminute's silence as the hearses were driven from the tarmac of Kuala Lumpur International Airport to private funerals. Some public train in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, stopped operating.

All 298 people onboard died when the jet was shot down over anarea of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists on a flightfrom Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The victims included 43 Malaysiansand 195 Dutch nationals. An international investigation is ongoing,but no one has been arrested.

While the ceremony on the tarmac was solemn and heartfelt, thereturn of the bodies also represented a political triumph for PrimeMinister Najib Razak, whose already shaky popularity ratings werehit by his handling of the still unsolved disappearance of MalaysiaAirlines Flight 370 and its 239 passengers and crew in March.

'United as one'

"Today we mourn the loss of our people. Today, we begin to bringthem home," Najib said in a statement. "Our thoughts and ourprayers are with the families and friends of those who lost theirlives. Today we stand with you, united as one."

Najib claimed personal credit for negotiating a deal withpro-Russian separatists for the return of all the bodies of the 298
people on board. Few details have been released over what theseparatists were given in return, and some critics have said thatthe negotiations with people many regard as terrorists set adangerous precedent.

"Everyone wants closure for the families, there is noquestion," said Bridget Welsh, a research associate at the National
Taiwan University. "But on the other hand, they (Najib's advisers)saw this as an opportunity for him to look good. It was critical forthe government to be seen as responsive and differentiate itself from the handling of MH370."

The victims were carried aboard a specially chartered MalaysiaAirlines jet from Amsterdam, where they were taken from the crashsite. Three had already been cremated. The coffins were individuallylowered from the plane and slowly carried by teams of eight soldiersto waiting hearses.

The repatriation was the first of the Malaysian passengers andcrew on the flight. The government has said that the bodies of theremaining Malaysians would follow soon.

Flight 370

The country may never witness a similar homecoming for thevictims on board Flight 370. The plane went missing on a flight fromKualaLumpur to Beijing and is believed to have crashed somewhere inthe southern Indian Ocean.

After several surface and underwater searches have turned up nothing, a new underwater search is expected to begin in Septemberand take up to a year to search 60,000 square kilometresof the Indian Ocean seabed.

Assuming the plane is found, the depth of the ocean will makerecovery of any bodies difficult. Relatives might also prefer thebodies to stay where they are.