Not wanting to be hasty, the Malaysian government is still waiting for confirmation from its counterpart in the Netherlands over the identification of bodies of two Malaysians who were on board Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 which went down in eastern Ukraine on July 17.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the move was in respect of several nations, especially the Netherlands government, on the process of identification of all the victims of the aircraft mishap.
"We have an understanding with the investigators that we have a way to process and identify the victims of the mishap but we do not divulge them first.
"So, in that context, I do not want to talk too much because the lines and communications to identify the information received must be channelled through the secretariat under the transport ministry," he told reporters when met after a Dungun Umno division Aidilfitri gathering today.
On when the process of identifying all the Malaysian bodies would be completed, Hishammuddin, who is also Umno vice-president, said it depended on the investigating process at the location of the incident and the identification of bodies in Amsterdam.
"In such a situation, it is much too early for us to say that all the bodies in Amsterdam were from Malaysia," he said.
As such, the media was urged to exercise caution when issuing facts and statements because the sensitivity of the families had to be taken into account by taking the lesson from the other air disaster, MAS Flight MH370 whose final destination was in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8.
The media quoted the Netherlands Government as saying that other than two Malaysians, the 21 other bodies identified were 16 Dutch and one each from Britain, Germany and Canada.
The mission to find pieces of bodies at the site of the crash in eastern Ukraine was postponed, following a clash between the Ukrainian Army and separatists.
Flight MH17 with 298 passengers and crew was believed to have been shot down during its journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the move was in respect of several nations, especially the Netherlands government, on the process of identification of all the victims of the aircraft mishap.
"We have an understanding with the investigators that we have a way to process and identify the victims of the mishap but we do not divulge them first.
"So, in that context, I do not want to talk too much because the lines and communications to identify the information received must be channelled through the secretariat under the transport ministry," he told reporters when met after a Dungun Umno division Aidilfitri gathering today.
On when the process of identifying all the Malaysian bodies would be completed, Hishammuddin, who is also Umno vice-president, said it depended on the investigating process at the location of the incident and the identification of bodies in Amsterdam.
"In such a situation, it is much too early for us to say that all the bodies in Amsterdam were from Malaysia," he said.
As such, the media was urged to exercise caution when issuing facts and statements because the sensitivity of the families had to be taken into account by taking the lesson from the other air disaster, MAS Flight MH370 whose final destination was in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8.
The media quoted the Netherlands Government as saying that other than two Malaysians, the 21 other bodies identified were 16 Dutch and one each from Britain, Germany and Canada.
The mission to find pieces of bodies at the site of the crash in eastern Ukraine was postponed, following a clash between the Ukrainian Army and separatists.
Flight MH17 with 298 passengers and crew was believed to have been shot down during its journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17.
