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MH17: a mother's plea to Putin
CNN interview with Silene Fredriksz at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport — the Dutch mother who bought her son Bryce and his girlfriend Daisy their tickets on MH17 made an impassioned plea to Vladimir Putin: 'Take care of my son and my daughter. Bring them home.'
Days after MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, McLaughlin spoke with Silene Fredriksz at the makeshift memorial at Schiphol Airport. Fredriksz had bought the tickets that put her 20-year-old son Bryce and his girlfriend Daisy on the flight — and appealed directly to Putin to have their bodies returned.
Why it mattered
The interview became one of the defining emotional moments of the MH17 aftermath — a mother's demand that the bodies of the 298 victims be returned as they lay uncollected in eastern Ukraine.
Related reporting
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A mother's regret over flight MH17
CNN report from Amsterdam — a mother who lost two sons in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, and families waiting for answers at Schiphol.
Watch report at CNN →