Two planes carrying remains of dozens of victims from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 landed in Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands on July 23. The small nation of 16 million people observed a day of mourning for the 193 countrymen lost in last week’s tragedy.
The bodies were met by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and hundreds of the victims’ relatives. A solitary bugler played the Dutch equivalent of Taps and a moment of silence took place, then a long line of hearses rolled up to the planes.
There were no speeches.
Here’s the heartbreaking video of the somber hearse progression. Thousands of people jammed roadsides and overpasses, and you’ll notice that traffic even stopped along some of the highways they paid tribute to the solemn procession heading slowly to the city of Hilversum, where forensic experts were waiting to identify the remains. May these poor victims of this tragedy finally rest in peace.