MH17 victims to get Dutch memorial at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport

The Hague: A forest is to be planted in a park close to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to commemorate the victims of downed flight MH17, the organisation representing victims' families announced Thursday.

The national monument will comprise 298 trees, one for each of the victims of the ill-fated flight, the MH17 Disaster Foundation said in a statement.

"The next-of-kin have expressed the preference to place the national memorial in Vijfhuizen" near Schiphol, the foundation said.

The families could vote for three locations with more than half preferring the park to other possible sites in The Hague and the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven.

The trees will form a giant green ribbon, a symbol worn by the relatives to commemorate the July 17, 2014 disaster, with an amphitheatre at the centre.

Three proposals were unveiled earlier this month for monuments to honour the victims, mostly Dutch nationals, killed when the plane came down in eastern Ukraine.