Candles and flowers are left for the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 at Netherlands Embassy in Kiev. Photo / Getty
Candles and flowers are left for the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 at Netherlands Embassy in Kiev. Photo / Getty
Malaysia Airlines have released the names of the 283 passengers and 15 crew on flight MH17, which was shot down over the Ukraine.
The manifest confirms the nationalities of all those on board, including New Zealander Mary Menke, 65, and her Dutch-born husband Gerry, who were based in Australia.
The majority of passengers were from the Netherlands, followed by Malaysians, who also lost 15 crew in the disaster.
On its website the airline said since the crash it had, together with various foreign embassies, made "every effort" to establish contact with the next-of-kin but it was still unable to identify many family members.
Meanwhile, the sole New Zealand citizen on board the ill-fated MH17 flight has been remembered as a "warm, creative and generous" person.
Mrs Menke and her husband were returning to their home in Australia after celebrating his 70th birthday with family and friends in the south of France.
The pair were two of the 298 people killed when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky over Ukraine on Friday, reportedly by Russian-backed separatists.
Mrs Menke, who moved to Australia in her mid-20s, and her husband were pioneers in the seafood industry in their adopted home of Mallacoota, Victoria.
Image 1 of 41: Mary Menke, New Zealander confirmed as being on the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17. Photo / supplied
They left behind four children Paul, Sara, Brett and Anna. In a statement, the family said they would be "sorely missed".
"We take comfort in the fact they were together and that's how they would have wanted it to be."
It is understood Mrs Menke's father and sister live in New Zealand.
She was a talented piano player, taught music at the local high school, and supported Gerry's business ventures.
"She was a larger-than-life character ... warm, creative and generous," the Menke family said.
A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a fire amongst the wreckage. Photo / AFP
Mr Menke, a paua diver with more than 30 years experience, helped establish Victoria's burgeoning abalone pearl aquaculture business. He was reportedly inspired to start the business after a visit to a New Zealand enterprise.
A relative last night told the Herald on Sunday from Australia that Mrs Menke had moved to Australia in 1971, where she "met the man of her dreams".
And last night, as the world's anger turned on Ukraine and Russia, fresh details emerged of other Kiwi connections to the ill-fated flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
A firefighter stands as flames burst amongst the wreckage of the jet. Photo / AFP
Rob Ayley, 29, from Otaki, was on his way home from a month-long trip to Europe. He is survived by wife Sharlene and sons, Seth, 4, and Taylor, 2.
Dutch couple Hendrik-Jan "Henk" Tournier and Ineke Westerveld were on their way to New Zealand to visit Henk's Taupo-based daughter, Nanda Bright, and their two grandsons, aged 12 and 9.
Popular former Auckland and Queenstown restaurateur Benoit Chardome was also on board. The Dutchman lived in New Zealand for more than 10 years before moving to Bali six years ago. He was maitre d' at well-known Parnell restaurant Iguacu for two years, before buying two Queenstown eateries.
Two Newcastle United fans following their team to New Zealand for the English Premier League club's first tour here were killed, and will be honoured at games played in Dunedin and Wellington this week.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities last night accused Russian rebels of removing bodies and tampering with evidence at the crash site. Armed pro-Russian rebels earlier stood guard and fired warning shots at international inspectors.
Bodies and debris are strewn across a 10km radius near Grabovo, around 50km from the Russian border.
Flowers, candles and other tributes in front of the Netherlands Embassy in memory of the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photo / Getty
Internationally mediated talks "concluded with an agreement to set up a 20km security zone so Ukraine could fulfill the most important thing - identify the bodies and hand them over to relatives," Ukrainian Security Service head Valentyn Nalyvaychenko said last night.
It remained unclear whether the crucial black boxes were still at the site. Amid confusion over the whereabouts of the flight recorders, Russian authorities had to deny having any plans to spirit them away.
That assurance failed to stop pressure on Moscow. President Barack Obama described the deaths of nearly 300 people as an "outrage", as he issued a stark warning to Vladimir Putin for supporting the separatists who are thought to have fired the surface-to-air missile which brought down the aircraft.
Putin was accused of avoiding phone calls from world leaders.The UN Security Council in New York yesterday passed a resolution calling for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation".
Dutch Ambassador to the UN Karel van Oosterom told the council's emergency meeting: "This is a dark hour in our national history. We are a nation in shock."
Foreign Minister Murray McCully joined the voices calling for a credible inquiry. The disaster comes just four months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from the skies with 239 people on board, including Kiwis Paul Weeks and Ximin Wang.
