Tragedy has struck twice for an Australian woman who lost close relatives in both Malaysian Airlines MY:MAS disasters this year.
Kaylene Mann’s brother Rod Burrows and sister-in-law Mary Burrows were on board flight MH370, which disappeared in March. Mann also learned Friday that her husband's step-daughter Maree Rizk was among the 298 people killed on flight MH17, which was reportedly shot down over Ukraine on Thurday, reported Huffington Post.
“It’s just ripped our guts again,” Greg Burrows, Mann’s brother told The Associated Press.
Rizk and her husband Albert had tried to change their flight to avoid a lengthy stopover, but were unable to, according to the Herald Sun. They were returning home from a month-long European vacation.
Despite the devastating effect on his family, Burrows says he doesn’t have anything against Malaysian Airlines.
“Nobody could predict they were going to get shot down. That was out of their hands,” he said.
While the identities of the all the passengers have yet to be revealed, Malaysian Airlines officials say at least one Canadian was aboard the flight. Of the passengers whose nationalities are known, the majority are believed to be Dutch.