Week 4 - 馬航MH17遭擊落

Malaysian MH17 remains return

AP, KUALA LUMPUR

Sat, Aug 23, 2014

Carried by soldiers and draped in the national flag, coffins carrying Malaysian victims of Flight MH17 returned home yesterday to a country still searching for those on board another doomed jet and a government battling the political fallout of the twin tragedies.

The bodies and ashes of 20 victims from the Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over eastern Ukraine last month were given full military honors and a day of national mourning was declared — the first in the country’s history.

Many office workers in the nation of 30 million observed a minute’s silence as the hearses drove from the tarmac of Kuala Lumpur International Airport to private funerals. Some of the capital’s public trains stopped operating.

All 298 people on board died when the jet, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. The victims included 43 Malaysians and 195 Dutch nationals. An international investigation is ongoing, but no one has been arrested.

The bodies’ return also represented a political triumph for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose already shaky popularity ratings were hit by his handling of the still-unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and its 239 passengers and crew in March.

“Today we mourn the loss of our people. Today, we begin to bring them home,” Najib said in a statement. “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. Today we stand with you, united as one.”

Najib claimed personal credit for negotiating a deal with pro-Russian separatists for the return of all the bodies of the 298 people on board. Few details have been released over what the separatists were given in return, and some critics have said that the negotiations with people many regard as terrorists set a dangerous precedent.

“Everyone wants closure for the families, there is no question,” National Taiwan University research associate Bridget Welsh said. “But on the other hand, they [Najib’s advisers] saw this as an opportunity for him to look good. It was critical for the government to be seen as responsive and differentiate itself from the handling of [disappeared Flight] MH370.”

The remains of the victims were carried aboard a specially chartered Malaysia Airlines jet from Amsterdam, where they had been taken to from the crash site. Three had already been cremated.

On arrival in Kuala Lumpur, the coffins were individually lowered from the plane and slowly carried by teams of eight soldiers to waiting hearses.

“They were casualties of war, unfortunately, and the world community needs to work toward a solution to these conflicts,” said Abdul Mueiem, a Malaysia Airlines pilot who attended the ceremony. “Everyone is feeling sad and depressed, but the important thing is that Malaysia Airlines is one big family, and we are together with the nation.”

The repatriation was the first of the Malaysian passengers and crew on the flight.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/08/23/2003598055

Structure of the lead:

WHO - Coffins carrying Malaysian victims of Flight MH17

WHEN - Fri, Aug 22, 2014

WHAT - Soldiers carried coffins carry Malaysian victims of Flight MH17 and returned to the country. And they would mourn the loss of our people who be brought to home by soldiers.
WHY - A government battling the political fallout of the twin tragedies

WHERE - Eastern Ukraine 

HOW - Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Keywords:

1.draped (v.) 垂掛

2.coffin (n.) 棺材

3.doomed (a.) 命注定的
4.jet (n.) 噴出物

5.shot down 射落；擊落

6.funeral (n.) 喪葬，葬儀

7.separatist (n.) 分離主義者
8.shaky (a.) 不穩固的；搖晃的；不堅定的
9.still-unsolved (a.) 仍未解決的 
10.mourn (v.) 哀痛，哀悼

9.precedent (n.) 先例，前例

10.closure (n.) 關閉；結束

11.cremate (v.) 將……燒成灰；火葬
12.hearse (n.) 靈車

13.casualty (n.) 死者；傷者

14.repatriation (n.) 遣送回國；調回本國

15.crew (n.) 全體船員