'Ripped our guts out' Woman loses brother on MH370 and stepdaughter on MH17
IN a cruel twist of fate a woman whose brother vanished on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 today discovered her stepdaughter died on flight MH17.
Kaylene Mann's stepdaughter Marie Rizk was killed along with 297 other people when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine yesterday.
Just four months beforehand her brother Rod Burrows and sister-in-law Mary Burrows vanished onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Ms Mann's brother Greg Burrows said his family were struggling to comprehend how they could be hit by two tragedies involving the same airline in a matter of months.
He said: "It's just brought everyone, everything back. It's just ripped our guts again."
It's just brought everyone, everything back. It's just ripped our guts again
Mr Burrows added: "She just lost a brother and now a stepdaughter, so" but as he tried to explain their loss his voice trailed off.
Despite the two tragedies involving Malaysia Airlines, Mr Burrows said that he did not blame the beleaguered airliner.
He added: "Nobody could predict they were going to get shot down. That was out of their hands."
Mrs Rizk and her husband Albert were returning home from a four-week holiday in Europe when they were killed onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Mr Rizk, an estate agent from Melbourne, was heavily involved with the Sunbury Football Club and their president Phil Lithgow paid tribute to them.
Mr Lithgow said Mr Rizk and his wife volunteered at the club's canteen and their son James played on the team.
He said: "They were very lovely people.
"You wouldn't hear a bad word about them - very generous with their time in the community, very community-minded, and just really very entertaining people to be with."
The club are going to wear black armbands and observe a minute's silence during their upcoming game on Saturday.