For giving up her seat, MAS worker ‘survives’ flight MH17
After hours of agony, the family of a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) employee was relieved to know that she had "survived" the ill-fated flight MH17 which was shot down last week, because she gave up her seat for another passenger.
The sister of Wani Hashim told Britain's Daily Mail how her shaken father had called her to inform that she was killed on the flight.
"I just started crying," said Nina Corder, who after failing to reach Wani on her mobile phone, finally heard her voice.
"I picked up my phone and I dialed her again and then I heard her voice say, 'Hello!'," Corder was quoted by the Mail as saying.
Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17 over restive eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard, mostly Dutch nationals.
After days of finger-pointing over who attacked the plane, largely blamed on Russian-backed rebels in the area, their remains have finally arrived in the Netherlands where forensic experts will identify the bodies before returning them to their families.
The Mail reported that after hearing news of the crash, Wani had immediately sent a text to her sister: "I gave up my seat for another passenger. OMG, I nearly took that flight."
Wani had instead flown to Paris.
Hers is one of many chilling stories by those who nearly boarded the flight MH17 and "cheated" death.
They include 29-year-old Dutch cyclist, Maarten de Jonge, who said he had to change his MH17 ticket to another date because he wanted to save money by getting cheap airfare.
But even more dramatic is the fact that De Jonge had cheated death twice. Last March, he was supposed to board the MAS flight MH370, which has been missing with 238 people aboard.
“It’s hard to believe. I grieve for the passengers and their families but I’m grateful that I escaped the flight,” he told Dutch television. – July 24, 2014.
