The Australian government has unveiled a plaque at Parliament House today for the 38 Australian victims of last year’s Malaysia Airlines MH17 tragedy.
The unveiling comes exactly one year after the plane was shot down while flying over Ukraine with some 298 passengers onboard.
All 38 names of the Australians killed in MH17 were etched into the plaque, which now sits in a garden near the Parliament House.
Soil taken from the Ukrainian town of Rozsypne was collected by the Australian Federal Police and placed under the memorial.
#MH17 National Memorial plaque at Parliament House in Canberra. #auspol pic.twitter.com/yDDOE0vUtU
— Lukas Coch (@cochl) July 17, 2015
Prime Minister Tony Abbott pulled the cloth off the national memorial this morning with victims’ families and dignitaries in attendance. During the ceremony the PM described those killed in the tragedy as innocent and that had no part in the war they fell victim to.
“They deserved to be welcomed home, not shot out of the sky in a war of aggression by one country against a smaller neighbour.”
Tony Abbott, Australian Prime Minister
A new memorial was also unveiled at the village of Hrabove, which located close to the main crash site.
Memorial stone put up last week in #Hrabove for ‘the 298 innocent victims of the civil war’ #MH17 pic.twitter.com/EzrblTQEWO
— Joost Bosman (@Joosje) July 17, 2015
Malaysia Airlines, which has suffered financially since the MH17 and the disappearance of MH370, posted a tribute ribbon to its Twitter page in remembrance of the its passengers and staff.
The picture was captioned ‘We remember. We Honour’ Always and Forever #alwaysinMyHeart’.
We remember. We honour. Always and forever. #alwaysinMyHeart pic.twitter.com/Od3gbYkJ92 — Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) July 11, 2015
Since the post appeared, social media users have adopted the hashtag to share their own condolences and remembrance messages.
Here are a few of the posts:
1 year #MH17 #AlwaysInMyHeart — Syaza (@syzrhzd) July 17, 2015
Gone but never forgotten #RIPMH17 #AlwaysInMyHeart @MAS 😢
— Anne Ricky (@Bubbly1003) July 17, 2015
