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New Baby For Australian Couple Who Lost Three Children In The MH17 Crash In Ukraine [Video]

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 20:40 PST, May 12, 2016

An Australian couple say their new daughter, Violet May, has brought them “love and light, hope and joy” after losing three children along with their grandfather in the MH17 crash.

Marite Norris and Anthony Maslin welcomed their new baby on May 10, after their three other children, Mo (13), Evie, (11) and Otis (9), together with their grandfather Nick Norris, were lost when flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine back in July 2014.

The children were on their way home from vacation to attend school, while their parents remained in Amsterdam.

As reported by CNN, in a statement released by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, the Maslins said their family was “torn apart when MH17 was blown out of the sky.”

The couple said in a statement a week after the MH17 crash that they were living in a “hell beyond hell,” adding their babies were no longer with them and that they needed to “live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives.”

However, they now believe that their children have sent them an amazing gift.

“We believe that Mo, whose 14th birthday was Saturday, Evie, 12 next week, Otis, 10 next month, and Grandad Nick have sent us an amazing gift. Violet’s birth is a testament to our belief that love is stronger than hate.”

The Maslins say they still live with pain, but the new addition to their family, along with the knowledge that all four children are with them always, brings light into their darkness.

“We will continue to love all four of our children equally. Violet brings some hope and joy for us. We hope she brings hope and joy for you too.”

Flight MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over Ukrainian territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists on July 17, 2014, leading to the deaths of all 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines plane, including 38 Australians.

Dutch investigators released a report on the incident in October last year, stating that they had found the plane had crashed after a missile warhead exploded outside the cockpit.

In the report on the results of the investigation by the Dutch Safety Board, it was concluded that the Boeing 777 had been downed by a Buk anti-aircraft missile, probably fired from an area under the control of the Russian-backed separatists. However, the report did not specifically assign responsibility for the shooting down of the plane.

As reported by the Guardian, following the release of the report, Paul Guard – an Australian whose parents were both killed when MH17 was brought down – said Malaysia Airlines should have been told not to fly over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

Since the incident, Pro-Russia separatists have been accused of the MH17 crash by several Western Nations along with the Ukrainian government, saying it was the separatists that shot down the plane with a missile. Despite this, the Russian government along with rebel leaders dispute the allegations and have suggested it was rather Ukrainian forces that shot down the plane, using either a surface-to-air missile or one of their own fighter jets.

After the report was published, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, “We must do the utmost so that the people who did it will not avoid punishment.”

[Photo screengrab from YouTube]

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