Prime minister: Dutch to hold national commemoration on Nov. 10 for Flight 17 victims

AMSTERDAM – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says a national commemoration event will be held on Nov. 10 for those who died when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine.

Rutte made the announcement Tuesday after a closed meeting with hundreds of next of kin of victims of the disaster.

All 298 people on board died when the passenger jet was shot down on July 17. The plane heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot out of the sky over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. The victims included 195 Dutch nationals.

Rutte says the commemoration in an Amsterdam convention center "will be very carefully organized together with the next of kin."

Dutch authorities said last week they have so far have identified 173 victims.