Moscow: An Indian origin flight steward was among the 15 crew members on-board the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday. According to Sanjid Singh Sandu’s father Jijar Singh, Sandu was not supposed to be on MH17 as he had switched his shift with a colleague, the Malaysian Star reported.
His mother had planned to cook Sanjid’s favourite dishes for him upon his arrival in Penang. Sanjid was Jijar’s youngest child and only son. “He last came home last month,” Jijar said.
“My son spoke to me over the phone just before his flight. I didn’t know that would be my last conversation with him,” Jijar added. Sandu’s parents received the news from their daughter-in-law, who is also a flight stewardess with Malaysian Airlines.
The Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysia Airlines MH17 jetliner crashed on Thursday near the Russian border, with all the 298 passengers and crew members on board reportedly killed.
Among the 298 passengers, the majority belonged to the Dutch community. 173 Dutch persons were identified among the passengers. 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians and 12 Indonesians were on board including nine from UK, Four Germans, Four Belgians, Three from the Philippines, one form New Zealand and One Canadian and 15crew members of MH-17 aircraft. Bodies and burning wreckage were scattered over the countryside near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has called the incident a terror attack. Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, described the downing of the plane as “an act of terror”.