A haunting photograph of flight MH17 is believed to have been posted on Facebook by a Dutch passenger just moments before he boarded the doomed plane.
The plane, pictured on tarmac, took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at lunchtime today. It was shot down hours later on the Russia-Ukraine border in an ‘act of terrorism’, killing all 295 people on board.
Cor Pan, who is listed on Facebook as living in Volendam in North Holland, uploaded the picture of the aircraft with the caption: ‘If it disappears, this is what it looks like.’
The comment is believed to have been a reference to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March.
After seeing the photo friends initially went along with the joke and wished him a good trip, but their messages quickly turned frantic when news of the crash emerged.
Posting underneath the picture they asked whether his flight was the one that had gone down and said that they were praying that it wasn’t true.
His cousin later posted the flight number underneath the picture and wrote: ‘Turns out our cousin Cor was on this plane.’
Friends and family members began to leave touching tributes to the Dutch traveller, with one posting ‘rest in peace’.
Their posts also suggested that he was on board the plane with his girlfriend Neeltje Tol.
One said: ‘Rest in peace Cor and Neel this is surreal, with sympathy for family and friends.’
Another posted: ‘Terrible and unfair. Rest in peace Cor and Neeltje.’
At least 151 Dutch nationals were on board, according to Malaysian Airlines.
The plane has the words Malaysia emblazoned on the side and appears to be being refuelled.
Fairfax news agency could not independently verify whether the post was genuine.
