SOMERSET NEWS: County mourns one of its own in stricken Malaysia Airlines flight MH17

SOMERSET NEWS: County mourns one of its own in stricken Malayisa Airlines flight MH17

A SOMERSET man and his wife and two children were among the victims of the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Andrew Hoare, a banker, died along with his Dutch-born wife Estella and two children, Jasper, 15, and 12-year-old Friso.

Mr Hoare lived at Beckington, near Frome, before moving to Luxembourg in the 1980s. He and Estella were married in Somerset in 1998.

They were on their way to a holiday in Malaysia when the plane crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday (July 17, 2014).

A statement from Mr Hoare’s family said: “Andrew was born and bred in Somerset and was a greatly loved member of a large family.

“He was a warm, funny and wonderful man whose smile and character lit up a room.”

The statement continued: “Estella was beautiful, intelligent, spoke five languages fluently and had a very infectious laugh.

“Jasper had a brilliant young mind and Friso was a talented musician and peacemaker.

“They made frequent visits to both the Netherlands and England to keep in touch with all branches of the family and friends.

“Family was everything to them and they will all be terribly missed.”

It is believed that the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 they were travelling in was shot down by a missile.

All 298 people on the flight were killed. The passenger list released by Malaysia Airlines shows the plane was carrying 193 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians including 15 crew, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, ten Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three from the Phillippines and one each from Canada and New Zealand.

PHOTO - TOP: Somerset man Andrew Hoare and his family.

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