An Australian couple whose three children died when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine two years ago has welcomed a new daughter.
Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris of Perth lost their children two years ago. However, the arrival of their daughter, Violet May Maslin, has brought them “love and light, hope and joy,” they said on Tuesday, May 10.
Mo, 12, Evie, 10, and Otis, 8, died along with their grandfather, Nick Norris, when Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
At the time, Marlin and Norris were staying in Amsterdam while their children flew back to Australia with their grandfather.
In a statement released on May 12 by the Australian foreign affairs department, the couple said they believe Violet is a gift sent by their three children and the children’s grandfather.
“Violet’s birth is a testament to our belief that love is stronger than hate,” the couple wrote.
“We still live with pain, but Violet, and the knowledge that all four kids are with us always, brings light to our darkness. As Martin Luther King said, ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’”
“Violet brings some hope and joy for us,” the couple wrote.
“We hope she brings hope and joy for you too.”
According to the Daily News, air crash investigators concluded that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed by a Soviet-designed Buk surface-to-air missile.
A total of 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 80 children.
