This Article is From Jul 19, 2014

Malaysia Airlines Crash: Shift Swap Saved Indian-Origin Steward's Wife, Killed Him

Malaysia Airlines Crash: Shift Swap Saved Indian-Origin Steward's Wife, Killed Him

People lay flowers and light candles in front of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kiev on July 18.

Kuala Lumpur: An Indian-origin flight steward was among the 15 crew members on board the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday.

Sanjid Singh Sandu, 41, had swapped flights with his colleague to fly on the MH17, the Malaysian Insider reported. "He was last here about a month ago. He told us recently that he swapped with a colleague for the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight," Sandu's father 71-year-old Jijar Singh said.

Ironically, just 131 days ago, Mr Sandu's wife, also a Malaysia Airlines flight stewardess, had swapped out of flight MH370 which vanished while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

"Sanjid's wife was meant to fly on MH370 but swapped with another colleague at the last minute," Mr Singh said.

Mr Sandu was Jijar's youngest and only son. "He always called us before he left for his trip," he said. "He was supposed to come here at noon after he returned from Amsterdam this morning. His mother had prepared all his favourite dishes."

Mr Sandu's parents received the news from their daughter-in-law at 4 am on Friday. He and his family, including their seven-year-old son, live in Kuala Lumpur.

The Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysia Airlines MH17 jetliner crashed on Thursday over Ukraine near the Russian border, with all the 298 passengers and crew members on board reportedly killed. It was believed to have been shot down by a rocket.

The flight had taken off from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

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