MH17 memorial forest to be unveiled in the Netherlands

At the time of the disaster, flowers and football shirts were placed outside of football grounds Credit: NUFC

On the third anniversary of the Flight MH17 disaster, a memorial forest is to be unveiled in the Netherlands.

Liam Sweeney and John Alder were among 298 people killed when a plane was shot down over Ukraine. The devoted Newcastle United fans were on their way to New Zealand to watch the team in a pre season friendly in 2014.

Liam's father Barry Sweeney will attend the unveiling - he called the Netherlands his 'second home' today on social media.

A ribbon, made up of 298 trees, will be surrounded by a ring of sunflowers. There is one tree for every life lost and the sunflowers refer to the sunflower fields in eastern Ukraine where some parts of the plane wreckage were found.

Artist impression Credit: http://www.monumentmh17.nl/