German Chancellor Merkel Phones PM Najib Over MH17 Tragedy

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Bernama) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday telephoned Prime Minister Najib Razak to express condolences over the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft crash in Ukraine last Thursday. An officer of the Prime Minister's Office said Najib received the call at his private residence here. "Merkel expressed condolences to Malaysia over the Flight MH17 tragedy and said Germany is prepared to assist Malaysia," he said. Merkel also expressed her appreciation over the efforts taken by Malaysia to handle the situation. Najib had consulted successfully with Alexander Borodai, who is in command of the region where the plane had crashed in troubled eastern Ukraine, for the recovery of the bodies of the victims and the two black boxes. The MAS flight, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Ukraine. It was carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew. It is believed that the Boeing 777-200 was shot down. Following the tragedy, Najib had been contacted by several world leaders, among them President Vladimir Putin of Russia, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain. --BERNAMA