A cousin of the British resident of Roeser reportedly on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday afternoon has confirmed that he and members of his immediate family were on the passenger manifest. Malaysia Airlines contacted the cousin on Friday morning.

RTL had reported earlier that a British father and his Dutch wife and two of their children were reportedly on board the stricken Boeing 777 aircraft. The names of the passengers have not yet been officially released, but Delano is aware that the British man had been resident in Luxembourg for over 15 years.

All 298 people on board the plane perished when it crashed near the town of Grabovo. Reports suggest the aircraft may have been shot down by a surface to air missile--though opposite sides in the conflict have blamed each other for the apparent attack.

The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was also carrying a number of international experts travelling to the 20th international Aids conference in Melbourne. Luxembourg’s Henri Goedertz, who is attending the conference as head of HIV Berodung, travelled to Kuala Lumpur on the same day but flew via Paris with Malaysia Airlines.

Delano extends its sympathy to the family and friends of the victims.