In somber homecoming, Malaysia lays MH17 dead to rest

Millions of black-clad Malaysians fell silent Friday in tribute to their 43 countrymen killed in the MH17 disaster as the first remains were brought home and laid to rest amid deep sorrow and anger.
     
People across the country of 28 million observed a minutes' silence at 10:55 am (0255 GMT), shortly after a Malaysia Airlines jet landed with the remains of 20 people killed when MH17 was blasted from the sky by a suspected surface-to-air missile over Ukraine.
      
Five weeks after the July 17 tragedy, the coffins and urns were conveyed to white hearses in a solemn ceremony presided over by Malaysia's King Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Prime Minister Najib Razak at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
      
Muslim-majority Malaysia had declared a day of national mourning, with flags lowered to half-mast, and business, sport, entertainment and other events cancelled or toned down.
      
Residents of the capital Kuala Lumpur overwhelmingly donned black, with many Muslim women in flowing black robes and Islamic headscarves, as state television aired recitations from the Koran and photos of the dead.
      
"No words can express the sense of loss in seeing the bodies return, my prayers are with the victims and families of #MH17," Najib said on his Twitter feed.
      
Dozens of Malaysia Airlines cabin crew and pilots, wearing their work uniforms and holding Malaysian flags and white flowers, held an emotional vigil near the airport ceremony, some weeping, others praying for their lost colleagues.
                      
Shazly, 40, a flight steward who gave only his first name, citing a company request regarding contact with the media, mourned for Nur Shazana...