Australia holds national day of mourning for MH17 victims

Flags flew at half mast Thursday as Australia held a national day of mourning for those killed in the MH17 crash in Ukraine, a day after experts suspended the search for body parts. Australia lost 38 citizens and residents, including children, when the Malaysia Airlines plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 on board. Church bells chimed around the country as a memorial service was held at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, chosen as 16 of the Australians who died were from Victoria State. Melbourne was also the host city for the 20th International AIDS Conference with six delegates heading to the summit among those killed. Grieving families were joined in the cathedral by dignitaries including Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove. Abbott told the service that the families of those who died had gone through an unimaginable nightmare. ‘Their plane had been shot out of the sky and 298 innocent people murdered, including 38 men, women and children who called Australia home,’ he said, according to AFP.