Pinay mom with 2 kids among MH17 fatalities

Irene Gunawan with her two children Sherryl Shania, 15 and Darryl Dwight, 20. Photo grabbed from the Facebook Page of Irene Gunawan.

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) – The Department of Foreign Affairs released the names of the Filipino mother and her two children who were among those killed in the Malaysia Airlines flight crash in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

The fatalities were identified as Irene Gunawan, 54, and her two children Sherryl Shania Gunawan, 15, and Darryl Dwight Gunawan, 20.

The three Filipinos were among 298 aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. The Boeing 777 plane is suspected to have been downed by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow.

The family was based in The Netherlands.

"Based on their passport records with us, the address given was in The Netherlands. We are not sure whether they'll be travelling from The Netherlands to KL as their final destination or transiting going somewhere. We don't have that information," DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said.

Jose earlier declined to reveal the identities of the fatalities pending notification of their next-of-kin.

"Upon the request of Malaysia Airlines, we will allow the airlines to notify the families. And if they are unable to do that, and if they request our assistance, we will assist in notifying next-of-kin," he Jose.

He assured that the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is in close coordination with the Malaysia Airlines head office.

Likewise, Jose said that the embassy and the DFA are both ready to provide assistance to the victims' families.

"Our embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the DFA are both prepared to extend all the necessary assistance to the families of the three victims, starting first of all, if the next-of-kin would like to visit wherever the remains would be taken and our embassy will help in facilitating their visit. And if the family would like to repatriate the remains back to the Philippines, our embassy will also assist them," he said.