Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash: Malaysians slam rebel leader as 'moron'

Commander and self-proclaimed minister of Defence of so the called "Donetsk People's Republic" Igor Girkin, aka Strelok (centre), walks with his bodyguards in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on July 11, 2014. Pro-Russian separatist leader
Commander and self-proclaimed minister of Defence of so the called "Donetsk People's Republic" Igor Girkin, aka Strelok (centre), walks with his bodyguards in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on July 11, 2014. Pro-Russian separatist leader Igor Girkin came under heavy fire from Malaysians for his remark about "a significant number of the bodies weren't fresh" at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. -- PHOTO: AFP 

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Pro-Russian separatist leader Igor Girkin came under heavy fire from Malaysians for his remark about "a significant number of the bodies weren't fresh" at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

Girkin was also quoted as saying that the victims of MH17 "may have already been dead before the plane took off from Amsterdam on Thursday".

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board when it went down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, on Thursday night. It is believed that MH17 was hit by a surface-to-air missile fired by the separatists.

"Of course, they died mid-air because you shot them with a freakin missile, you moron!" Chandran Raman Kutty commented in The Star Online's Facebook page.

Other netizens also gave Girkin a tongue-lashing.

Ariana Urike called him an "idiot" in her posting, saying, "He saw fatal injuries from the missile hit? The effects of instant decompression at 30,000 ft? The man is an idiot!"

Similar views were shared by Mala Richards who said, "The lack of intellect expressed by rebels/eye-witness rebels exemplifies exactly how weapons placed in their trigger-happy hands can bring down an innocent passenger plane."

Anger also came from Mer So, who said: "Garbage! Rubbish! Nonsense! Trying to cheat babies!"

Sasun Vartanyan wrote: "What an idiot...a murderous IDIOT..."

Meanwhile, some netizens like Lim Pei Yiing felt Girkin's comments were disrespectful to the victims.

"What do you think this is? Going to market to buy meat and fish? This talk about bodies being fresh or not is pure idiocy and disrespect to the victims," said Lim.

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