http://mashable.com/2014/07/23/australia-parents-lost-children-mh17/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link
BY JENNI RYALL
15 MINUTES AGO
SYDNEY — The Western Australian parents of three children, who were killed with their grandfather on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, released a heartbreaking statement on Wednesday.
Anthony Maslin and Rin Norris lost their three children — Mo, 12, Evie, 10, and Otis, 8 — plus Norris's father, Nick, when the plane was shot from the sky above a field in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. The children and their grandfather were returning from a family holiday in Amsterdam on the doomed MH17, while their parents remained behind.
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Maslin and Norris said they are living "in a hell beyond hell" in the statement addressed to "Ukraine, the politicians, the media, our friends and family" It was released on their behalf by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Wednesday.
"Our pain is intense and relentless. We live in a hell beyond hell. Our babies are not here with us — we need to live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives Our babies are not here with us — we need to live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives," the statement read.
They said no on deserves to feel the pain they are experiencing, "not even the people who shot our whole family out of the sky."
"No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for our children, for Mo, for Evie, for Otis. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for Grandad Nick. No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for each other. This is a revelation that gives us some comfort," they said.
The couple thanked their friends and family for the love and support they had shown, crediting it with keeping them alive.
"We want to continue to know about your lives, all the good and all the bad. We no longer have lives that we want to live by ourselves. So we’d like to take the chance to thank everyone, all our incredible friends, family and communities, and to tell you all that we love you very much."
The Maslin children and their grandfather were among the 298 passengers who were killed when the Malaysian airliner was shot down on July 17. U.S. intelligence officials say pro-Russian separatists, who have been at war with Ukrainian forces for months, likely shot down the Boeing 777 by mistake.
