40 bodies from jet returned to Dutch soil

Coffins of the victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 downed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, are loaded into hearses on the tarmac during a national reception ceremony at Eindhoven airport, July 23, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Special: Malaysian airliner crashes over Ukraine

Families of passengers moved to a new stage of grief as the bodies began arriving in the Netherlands, the country that bore the heaviest death toll.

The families had spent days agonizing in wait while their loved ones' remains lay in sweltering fields in eastern Ukraine before being gradually shifted by truck, train and plane.

"If I have to wait five months for identification, I can do it," said Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son, Bryce, and his girlfriend Daisy Oehlers died in the crash. "Waiting while the bodies were in the field and in the train was a nightmare."

On a day of national mourning, flags flew at half-staff on Dutch government buildings and family homes around this nation of 17 million.

Church bells rang out around the country as the Dutch and Australian military transport planes taxied to a standstill. King Willem-Alexander clasped the hand of his wife, Queen Maxima, as the couple grimly watched uniformed pallbearers carry the coffins slowly from the planes to a fleet of waiting hearses.

Almost the only sound was of boots marching across the ground and flags flapping in the wind.

Then as the last hearses drove away, applause briefly broke out. Along the route, there was more applause from people gathered along the roadsides. Some tossed flower petals at the motorcade.

From the airport, they drove under military police escort to the central city of Hilversum where forensic experts waited at a military barracks to carry out the painstaking task of identifying the remains. Prime Minister Mark Rutte says many bodies could be identified quickly, but some families may have to wait weeks.

Two more planeloads of victims will be flown Thursday to Eindhoven to a similar ceremony, the Dutch government said.

Plane with MH17 bodies en route to Netherlands	MH17 black boxes to be analyzed in Britain