By Maarten van Tartwijk and Matina Stevis
AMSTERDAM--Flags were flying at half-mast across the Netherlands
on Friday, as the nation began a period of mourning after one of
the deadliest plane crashes in Dutch history.
The Netherlands was slowly digesting news of Thursday's crash of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 , with many citizens and officials
expressing disbelief, grief and anger.
Ivo Opstelten, the Dutch minister of security and justice, said
the number of Dutch victims had been revised upward to at least 173
casualties. "The terrible reality of this disaster is slowly coming
in," he told a news conference.
Mr. Opstelten said the cause of the crash was still unknown, but
that it was most likely that the plane was "shot down." He said the
Netherlands should be part of the international team that will
investigate the crash site, and that he hoped to provide more
information about the probe later on Friday.
Relatives of the passengers on board of Thursday's fatal flight
were staying at a hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport Friday.
The hotel was guarded by police on explicit orders to keep the
press off the premises. One officer said family members had been
trickling in Friday.
The fatal flight carried several Dutch citizens who were on
their way to an AIDS conference in Melbourne. One of them was Joep
Lange, a globally recognized AIDS activist who formerly served as
president of the International AIDS Society.
Another well-known person on board was Dutch Senator Willem
Witteveen, the Dutch Senate said in a statement on its website.
Schools posted obituaries on their Facebook accounts, to honor
students and teachers that were on the plane. Families and friends
also paid tributes to the victims via social media.
Cor Schilder and his girlfriend Neeltje Tol, who were on the
flight, were going on vacation. Mr. Schilder, whom friends
described as outgoing and adventurous, took a picture of Flight 17
and posted it on his Facebook page. His message read: "Should it
disappear, this is what it looks like."
The couple, who owned a flower store in Volendam, north of
Amsterdam, had left a message on the store's window. "We are open
again on August 4 from 12:00. We wish everyone a very pleasant
holiday."
In the meantime, at Schiphol Airport, passengers said they were
afraid to board another Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur,
which was set to depart on Friday afternoon.
"I don't want to go," Angela Molina told reporters, while her
eight-year-old son Tristan was hiding behind her. Ms. Molina, from
Melbourne, Australia, was visibly shaken. She said she had been in
touch with her travel agent but had not been given the option to
cancel her flight and move to another airline.
Dozens of passengers were hurriedly ushered through to their
gate Friday morning by airport staff as reporters and camera crews
flocked here.
The Malaysia Airlines counter at the Dutch airport was
unstaffed.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com and
Matina Stevis at matina.stevis@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires