Malaysia PM’s step-grandmother on MH17 – report

MANILA, Philippines – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s step-grandmother was reportedly one of the 43 Malaysians believed to have died on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine.

Malaysia’s English language newspaper The Star reported on its website that Najib’s step-grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah was traveling alone on her way back to Yogyakarta, Indonesia from Amsterdam.

Quoting a family spokesperson, The Star said she meant to transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Siti, 83, was once married to Najib’s grandfather, Tan Sri Mohammad Noah Omar as his second wife. Noah passed away in 1990.

“She was a very, very nice lady, a kind-hearted, beautiful woman. She was a homemaker who looked after my grandfather very well. We called her ‘Ibu’ (mother),” family spokesperson Datin Dr Faridah Abdullah told The Star on Friday, July 18.

Faridah said Siti travelled to Amsterdam on holiday with her only daughter from her first marriage. She added that Siti’s daughter, who The Star did not name, was supposed to have followed Siti on her way back but could not get on the same flight.

A native Indonesian, Siti planned to spend the Islamic holiday of the Feast of Breaking of the Fast with her daughter in Yogyakarta.

“She had her own family in Amsterdam, and would go there and come back off-and-on. She visited Malaysia very regularly and loved Malaysia,” said Faridah.

The Malaysian government has yet to comment on the report.

The plane, carrying 298 people, crashed in rebel-held territory on Thursday.

Latest figures released by Malaysia Airlines show the plane was carrying at least 173 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 12 Indonesians, 9 Britons, and 3 Filipinos.

The tragedy is Najib’s second international crisis in months, coming after the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared in March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Najib said, “This is a tragic day, in what has already been a tragic year, for Malaysia.”

He demanded that perpetrators be swiftly brought to justice if it is proven that the plane was shot down. 

“The flight’s passengers and crew came from many different countries. But today, regardless of nationality, we are all united in grief,” he said. – Rappler.com