Families, friends mourn MH17 victims in Amsterdam

Anonymous supporters, one wearing a sign which reads “MH17 Stop The Cover Up” demonstrate outside the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014. (AP Photo)

Hundreds of grieving family members and friends of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster are gathering in Amsterdam for a national commemoration ceremony nearly four months after the passenger jet was downed over eastern Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.

Family and friends of the victims were being joined by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other dignitaries for Monday’s event in a conference center on the outskirts of the Dutch capital.

Speaking to broadcaster NOS ahead of the commemoration, Rutte said it will be “a chance for the Netherlands to show the next of kin that they are not standing alone.”

The Boeing 777 was downed July 17 while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.