Family Expects Body of Member After MH17 Crash

Bogor, West Java (Antara) - The family of Gerda Leliana Lahenda who was the victim of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 airplane that crashed in Ukraine is expecting the body of the victim. "I am waiting for news, but I have received no news from the airline company, although they have asked me to prepare in case there is a new development," Deby Lahenda, the victim's daughter, said to Antara here on Friday. She said she was ready in case she was asked to come and help with the DNA identification process, but she will wait for confirmation before deciding to leave. She said her mother had planned to return home after staying for three months in the Netherlands where her sister lives. She said she now knows no sign of such incidents will happen, adding she was talking to her mother by phone before the incident. "Before boarding the plane my mother had asked me to pick her up at 10 and bring a small bag along, as she had planned to spend the night at my sister's home in Pondok Indah," she said. "My mother said goodbye before closing the conversation," she said. Deby said she had first heard about the crash on Thursday night while she was about to sleep. She said she will stay at her sister's house in Pondok Indah for easy access and also for monitoring any development in the evacuation of victims. "If I stay at my home in Cibubur, accessing will be difficult. Meanwhile, all our family members have also gathered in Pondok Indah. We are all waiting for news and hope that the body could be discovered soon and returned home," she said. The Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane was on its way from the Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur with 298 passengers on board, including 12 Indonesian citizens, when it crashed in Ukraine after being hit by a missile. (*) Reported by Laily Rahmawati