David Shearer
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson

18 July 2014

Labour sends condolences to families of MH17

Labour offers its condolences to the families of the passengers who lost their lives on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that appears to have been shot down over Ukraine earlier today, Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Shearer says.

“It is particularly sad that one of those who died may be one of our own, a New Zealand citizen or have connections to New Zealand.

“Our thoughts are with the families of those passengers today and especially to relatives across the Tasman following reports there were many Australian passport holders aboard the flight.

“This is a tragic event and one that almost certainly looks like an act of aggression.

“A full independent investigation needs to be held which has unimpeded access to the crash site and the full cooperation from all parties concerned including Ukrainian separatists.

“The investigation should also examine how a party in the area seemingly obtained weapons capable of shooting down an aircraft flying at 33,000 feet.

“This raises the broader issue of the flight paths of commercial airlines that overfly areas of conflict when a tragedy like this can so easily occur,” David Shearer says.

ENDS

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