Dutch military men carry coffins containing the bodies of MH17 victims during a ceremony at Eindhoven Airbase after a Hercules transport plane landed from Ukraine.
The first 40 bodies from the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash have landed in the Netherlands.
An Australian C-17 Globemaster carrying 24 coffins and a Dutch plane carrying 16 coffins, touched down at an airfield near Eindhoven Airport within a few minutes of each other about 4pm local time.
Wednesday is a day of national mourning in the Netherlands, which lost 190 people among the 298 passengers and crew who perished when MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was apparently shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine six days ago.
They stayed motionless for five minutes. Photo: Nick Miller
Awaiting the planes' arrival from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv were some of the victims' relatives, who were separated from the media by a black fence.
They were joined by the Dutch Prime Minister and royal family and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
The coffins containing the victims' remains will now be driven to a military base near the town of Hilversum to be identified by forensics experts.
More than 30 embassy staff walked in a solemn line to stand in front of the field of flowers. Photo: Nick Miller
Dutch police will briefly close the highway around the 40 hearses to allow them an uninterrupted route.
A spokeswoman from the Australian High Commision in London said 'Australian federal police investigations, intelligence and forensics specialists are working with the international community and australian forensics, and Disaster Victim Identification specialists are standing by in The Netherlands to assist with the DVI process.'
Meanwhile, in front of the Netherlands embassy in Kiev, a solemn, tearful vigil marked the moment that the first bodies from MH17 landed back in their home country.
Just before 5pm, local time, more than 30 embassy staff walked in a solemn line to stand in front of the field of flowers, candles, soft toys and messages of condolence that the locals have been leaving here over the last five days.
They stood facing the flowers in silence, hands clasped or by their sides, as bumblebees buzzed through the fading blooms.
One staff member, his jaw clenched with grief, sought his partner's hand to hold in support.
The Dutch ambassador to the Ukraine, Kees Klompenhouwer, stood stoically, his face set.
For five minutes they stayed motionless, until at a signal they wordlessly walked back inside, in the knowledge that their countrymen had arrived on home soil.
A Dutch church group then moved forward to lay red roses on the pile.
Young women in the 14-strong group, from the Reformed Church in the town of Ede, were overcome with grief and sobbed during the ceremony.
Another group member said many of them were once removed from the tragedy, knowing people who had lost a friend or family member.
But they had a lucky escape: their reverend at the church had been on the MH17 flight the day before the tragedy.
'It's been an emotional time,' said Johan Vermij, 40. 'We left (for Ukraine) on Friday just after we heard the news.
'Ukraine people have been very warm. Everyone says sorry to us.
'We have been praying.'
More to come Entities 0 Name: Ukraine Count: 5 1 Name: Netherlands Count: 3 2 Name: Nick Miller Count: 2 3 Name: Dutch Count: 2 4 Name: Eindhoven Airport Count: 1 5 Name: DVI Count: 1 6 Name: Kiev Count: 1 7 Name: Ede Count: 1 8 Name: Kuala Lumpur Count: 1 9 Name: The Netherlands Count: 1 10 Name: Hilversum Count: 1 11 Name: Kharkiv Count: 1 12 Name: Malaysia Airlines Count: 1 13 Name: London Count: 1 14 Name: Julie Bishop Count: 1 15 Name: Reformed Church Count: 1 16 Name: Amsterdam Count: 1 17 Name: Peter Cosgrove Count: 1 18 Name: Johan Vermij Count: 1 19 Name: Kees Klompenhouwer Count: 1 20 Name: Australian High Commision Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1wZVsaq Title: The Slow, Sad Journey Home for MH17 Victims Description: The bodies of victims from last week's Malaysia Airlines tragedy are headed home, being flown to the Netherlands as the Dutch government declared a day of national mourning. Meanwhile, the black boxes from MH17 were delivered to the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) headquarters at Farnborough, a spokesman tells ABC News.
