Local Dutch community coping with deaths of nearly 200 people from the Netherlands on MH17

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – People around the world are still in shock about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 being shot down over the Ukraine.

All 298 people aboard were killed; 193 were Dutch citizens.

Edie Bijdemast is president of the Netherlands Association in the Lower Mainland. She says although she moved to Canada almost 60 years ago, the ties to her homeland are very strong.

Bijdemast tells us as soon as she heard the plane had gone down, she contacted over 800 people on her mailing list.

“I emailed to the community the opportunities they had to express their condolences online and another link that we can go to to express our thoughts via Twitter and Facebook.”

She adds hundreds of messages have been left for victims’ families and friends.

Bijdemast says she had reached out to friends back home and learned the crash affected someone she knows.

“I just spoke with a girlfriend of mine in Holland and she said that one of the families were friends of hers — a mother, father, and two children. I was quite shocked to see that even within my acquaintance we have attachments to the people on the plane.”

A Dutch military plane is bringing more victims’ remains home to the Netherlands this morning.

Click here to send condolences via social media.

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