Dutch senator, AIDS expert die in MH17 crash

The Hague, July 18 (IANS) Dutch Senator Willem Witteveen and renowned AIDS researcher Joep Lange were killed in the MH17 plane crash in Ukraine, the media reported Friday.

Witteveen and Lange were on their way to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne due to begin July 20.

Witteveen, born in 1952, who entered the Senate in January last year for the Labor Party PvdA, was also a member of the Senate from 1999 to 2007 and professor of jurisprudence at the University of Tilburg since 1990, Xinhua reported.

Witteveen, son of former finance minister Johan Witteveen (VVD), died along with his wife and daughter.

Dutch media reported that AIDS researcher Joep Lange also died in the crash.

Lange, born in 1954, was the former International AIDS Society president.

Lange's latest functions were professor of medicine, head of the department of global health, at the Academic Medical Center (AMC) of University of Amsterdam and executive scientific director of the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD).

The Malaysian airliner flight MH17, with 298 people on board, crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine, with no survivors found so far.

At least 173 Dutch citizens were reported to have died in the crash, but a full passenger list was not available yet.