Dutch royals to meet MH17 crash families

THE HAGUE - King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will on Monday meet relatives of the many Dutch victims of flight MH17, the government press service said.

The king and queen will meet families of some of the 193 Dutch nationals who were among 298 people on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting, which also includes Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is scheduled to take place near the central city Utrecht, at around 1200 GMT.

Anger is growing in the Netherlands that none of the bodies has yet been returned from the crash site in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

On Monday Dutch forensics experts began inspecting the remains of bodies that are being stored in train wagons near the crash site.

Some criticism is being directed at the Dutch royals, whose staff have not said what the king and queen did on Sunday while worshippers gathered across the Netherlands in churches to pray for the victims. King Willem-Alexander has issued a statement about the disaster but has not yet addressed the nation.

The king and queen also on Friday signed a book of condolence in memory of the crash victims.