Tributes to Blackpool man killed in Ukraine air crash

The family of the man from Blackpool killed in the Malaysian plane disaster say they are desperate for his body to be brought home.

Speaking for the first time since his body was formally identified the family of Glenn Thomas say their loss is now even more painfully real.

Glenn was one of almost 300 passengers killed when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine.

Now his sister and nephew are trying to bring Glenn's body home, so they can lay him to rest.

Amy Welch reports.

The family of Blackpool man Glenn Thomas, who died when Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed, have been told his body has been recovered and identified.

Mr Thomas, 49, a media officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, was among 298 people killed when the Boeing 777-200 aircraft was downed over Ukraine on July 17.

The family of the former Granada and BBC journalist told ITV News they hope to bring his remains back to the UK very soon to enable his funeral to take place.

The family of 49-year-old Glenn Thomas, killed in the Malaysian Airlines crash in Ukraine, are pleading for the chance to bring his body back home.

Glenn, a media relations co-ordinator for the World Health Organisation and former Granada journalist was one of 298 people killed in a suspected missile attack last week.

Today, there have been conflicting reports about what has happened to a train containing remains of many of those who died.

This from our Lancashire reporter Amy Welch:

Sixteen bodies are still missing from the MH17 disaster, Ukraine's President has told CNN.

Petro Poroshenko said separatists in the area will allow a train carrying MH17 victims' bodies to travel to Kharkiv, Ukraine

He added that he hopes US Congress will consider those responsible for downing the Malaysia Airlines plane as members of a terrorist organization.

The nephew of one of the British victims of the Ukraine plane disaster said the family is anxiously waiting to hear when they will get his body back. Jordan Withers, whose uncle Glenn Thomas was killed in the crash last Thursday, said the uncertainty was making their pain greater.

He told ITV News Reported Ben Chapman the family want the body home, and want an investigation into what happened as soon as possible after that. He said:

"The blame game should not even come into it yet. Let's just get the bodies back and then we can have an investigation and justice can take its course, after that."

The family of a man from Blackpool who died in the Malaysian Airlines crash say the hardest thing they've had to cope with are the reports about the treatment of victims' bodies.

Glenn Thomas was among 298 people killed when the aircraft was shot down on Thursday.

Speaking today, Mr Thomas's nephew Jordan Withers, said they were trying to remember him "for the life he lived".

READ MORE: Western governments express anger over reports some of the bodies have been stored in a train.

The twin sister of one of the victims who died in the MH17 Malaysian Airlines crash said it "didn't feel real" when she was told her brother had died.

The twin sister of one of the victims who died in the MH17 Malaysian Airlines crash said it "didn't feel real" when she was told her brother had died. In an interview, Tracey Withers said the last time she saw her brother and former journalist Glenn Thomas was at their father's funeral.

She said: "The last pictures we have got as a family were unfortunately at my dad's funeral with is not the nicest way."

Husband Mark added that the family had a "real good time" at the wake that followed the funeral and said that it was a "good end" to the last time they saw him.

Read: Pro-Russian rebels 'stole bodies from MH17 crash site'

Friends and former colleagues of a Blackpool man killed in the Malaysian Airlines crash in the Ukraine have been speaking of their shock.

Glenn Thomas, who was 49, was a journalist who had worked for Granada and the BBC in the North West.

He was working as a media officer for the World Health Organisation in Geneva - they and many others he knew and represented paid tribute to him today.

Our correspondent Rob Smith has more: