The 全plainer: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and religious burial customs
Kimberly Winston | July 22, 2014
Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists on Monday released the bodies of the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which had languished in refrigerated train cars since the plane was shot down on July 17. The world was shocked by images and reports of bodies being looted, thrown in the back of pick-up trucks and unceremoniously stacked in the train cars.
But for many of the victims’ families, the release has come too late for them to complete the burial customs of their various religions. This edition of The ‘Splainer looks at the death rituals of the different religions practiced by the victims, and how the delay in retrieving the bodies disrupted them.
Q: What religions were practiced by the passengers and crew of Flight 17?
A: We know from profiles of the dead that there were Muslims, Christians, Jews and Hindus aboard. Among the dead are a Roman Catholic nun, a Sufi and a former soldier in the Israel Army. And we can draw a couple of conclusions about the rest from Dutch and Malaysian censuses. The Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens aboard Flight 17, is one-quarter Catholic, about 15 percent Protestant and about 6 percent Muslim. About half of the country’s population claims no religious adherence. Malaysia is predominantly Muslim (about 60 percent) and there are also sizable segments of Buddhists, Taoists and Hindus.
http://www.religionnews.com/2014/07/22/malaysia-airlines-flight-17-religious-burial/
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