Barry Sweeney: "I'm going to have to think Liam died instantly... because otherwise it will hurt forever"
The father of one of the victims of flight MH17 has said he had to believe those on board died quickly or it would "hurt forever".
Newcastle United fan Liam Sweeney was among 298 people who died when the Boeing 777 came down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
His father, Barry, travelled to The Hague for the Dutch Safety Board's report into its downing.
The report found that the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK missile.
See how updates on the MH17 report unfolded on North East Live.
Liam Sweeney, 28, and fellow supporter John Alder, 63, were on board the Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur en route to New Zealand, to watch Newcastle United play in a pre-season tour.
John Alder (left) and Liam Sweeney were on their way to New Zealand for a Newcastle United pres-season friendly
Relatives had a private briefing prior to the publication of the report.
Barry Sweeney described the atmosphere as "quite composed".
"There were a few questions afterwards, obviously there are still angry people in there," he said.
"But the Dutch chairman got a round of applause at the end to be honest with you, he was as frank as he could be.
"Basically [we were told] that the plane was hit by a BUK missile.
Victims' families viewed a reconstruction of a section of the aircraft
"The cockpit then broke off - probably creating confusion in the rest of the plane.
"Hopefully most people were unconscious by the time this happened - and that's probably a comfort to 298 sets of relatives.
"We're all here for the same reason, they sort of told us what we already knew, we can't be 100%, but we have to think no-one suffered on that flight.
"I'm going to have to just go away and think yes, Liam died instantly... because if you think otherwise, it will hurt forever."
- Published13 October 2015
- Published12 October 2015
