Parents of the three Australian children who were aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with their grandfather when it went down over east Ukraine last week have broken their silence.
In a heartbreaking statement, Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris have described the pain of losing their three children Mo, Evie and Otis, and Marite’s father Nick, as ‘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,’ the statement read.
The devastated parents maintain that no one should experience the sheer agony that they are experiencing, ‘Not even the people who shot our whole family out of the sky.’
Anthony and Marite thanked their family and friends who had surrounded them with love since the tragedy, and reminded people that the love for their family is stronger than any hate in the world.
The statement can be read in full below.
THE FULL STATEMENT FROM ANTHONY MASLIN AND MARITE NORRIS
A message to the soldiers in the Ukraine, the politicians, the media, our friends and family.
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.
No one deserves what we are going through.
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.
We would ask everyone to remember this when you are making any decisions that affect us and the other victims of this horror.
So far, every moment since we arrived home, we’ve been surrounded by family and friends. We desperately pray that this continues, because this expression of love is what is keeping us 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.
We would also like to thank the people at DFAT; the local coordinator Claire and most sincerely, Diana and Adrian from The Hague, without whom we would not be here. We ask the media to respect the privacy of our family and friends – pain is not a story.
Yours truly
Anthony Maslin & Marite Norris.
Earlier this week, it was announced the children’s father had taken indefinite leave from his job as head of Buxton Resources.
A brief statement from the Perth-based mining company on Monday said Anthony Maslin was taking personal leave from his job as managing director.
Mr Maslin and his wife Rin returned to Perth at the weekend from Amsterdam, where they had farewelled their three children on the ill-fated flight last Thursday.
The children, Mo, 12, Evie, 10 and Otis, eight, boarded MH17 with their grandfather Nick Norris so they could return to Australia from their European holiday in time to start school this week.
Mr Maslin and Ms Norris had planned to stay on in Amsterdam for a few more days after their children left. The family was meant to be reunited on Monday.
Ms Norris’s father, Nick Norris, was a government consultant who formally worked as a school principal.
Nick Norris (bottom left) was traveling with his grandchildren Otis, Mo and Evie Maslin (left to right) were on board MH17 when it crashed.