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End Ukraine war, say MH17 victims’ family

The family of three children killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot out of the sky have called for an end to fighting in Ukraine in honour of their memory, as their bodies finally arrive home.

The bodies of Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin, (aged 12, 10 and eight) and their grandfather Nick Norris have spent the past three months in a morgue in Netherlands, where they were taken after the passenger jet was shot down over the Ukraine in August.

“We have brought home the bodies of our children,” Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris said in a joint issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

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“Our children were taken from us by a war in which we, and our country, had no part. It is impossible to understand the reason they were blown out of the sky.”

“Please respect our children’s memory, and stop this pointless war.”

Describing their lives as an ongoing hell, the Maslin family said they share their grief with families of the 298 victims in the Ukraine, the Netherlands, Russia, Malaysia, Australia and elsewhere.

In the statement, Mo was remembered as a compassionate and selfless boy who accepted people of all ages and backgrounds and could make them feel special.

A gentle spirit, Evie Maslin’s warmth and absolute kindness was recognised by all who knew her, the family said.

Otis, who with his fascination for the outdoors, filled the family with carefree joy and laughter.

Nick Norris was accompanying his three grandchildren back to Perth for the start of the school year while their parents, Rin and Anthony Maslin, stayed behind in Amsterdam for an extra couple of days.

Mr Norris was the managing director of management consulting firm Collaborative Systemic Change.

He is survived by daughter Kirstin, who is in the navy and living in Sydney, son Brack, daughter Rin Maslin, another child and wife Lindy, a Murdoch University professor.

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