Families wiped out! Man, his wife and 3 children perish in MH17

Families wiped out! Man, his wife and 3 children perish in MH17

A Malaysian-Dutch family, who had been living in Melbourne for some time, were among the passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. 

SHALIZA DEWAL, 45, and her Dutch husband HANS VAN DEN HENDE were travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with their three children, PIERS, 15, MARNIX, 12, and daughter MARGAUX, 8. They never made it home.

Friends of the Van Den Hendes were shocked to hear that the much-loved family had been killed. A distraught mother Waruni Gajaman, who was a friend of the family, told Daily Mail Australia she was lost for words upon hearing the devastating news. 

'They were a beautiful family, beautiful people,' she said.

'I don't know what to say. I'm still in complete shock.

'They were a very nice family – and I'm not just saying this because they're gone.'

Ms Gajaman says her son Gaveen and Piers, the eldest boy who was killed, were best friends when they attended Melbourne's ICA Melton College together from 2006 to 2010.

The school closed down four years ago.

'It's so sad because I knew them very well but then I got busy with the kids and we went our separate ways after we left the school,' she said.

'When I told my son he was so upset. He was telling me that he regretted not keeping in touch with Piers.'

Another friend, Tanya Willmott, dedicated a Facebook post to the family on Friday.

'So saddened by the shock news tonight we lost a beautiful family to the plane disaster this morning. We now grieve the loss of our friends beautiful parents and wonderful children,' she wrote.

'You will always be in our hearts.'