荷蘭自行車手兩次避開馬航事故航班

Cyclist says he cheated death twice after switching tickets on doomed Malaysian flights

中國日報網 2014-07-21 14:36

A Dutch cyclist who says he was scheduled to be on both Malaysia Airlines flights MH370 and MH17 — only to switch his tickets at the last minute — knows he's lucky to be alive but has decided to stop speaking publicly about it.

Maarten de Jonge, a 29-year-old rider for the Terengganu team in Malaysia, said in a statement on his website that he's been inundated with media requests since tweeting about his fortunate change of plans.

"I'm frankly overwhelmed by the number of requests," de Jonge said. "What has happened is terrible, so many victims, that's a horrible thing. From reverence for the victims and their families, I do not think it [is] appropriate to tell my story."

Officials say 298 people — 189 of them Dutch citizens — were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was struck by a surface-to-air missile along the Russia-Ukraine border.

While de Jonge said he is "happy" he decided not to take the flight at "the last moment," his story "is ultimately nothing compared to the misery so many people are [experiencing]. Attention should be paid to the victims and survivors. Wishing everyone affected by this disaster a lot of strength."

The cyclist was planning to travel back to Kuala Lumpur on Flight MH17 on July 17 after competing in last month's National Championship Road Race in the Netherlands, but told a local television station he decided to save money by flying through Frankfurt instead.

According to the Telegraph, de Jonge was scheduled to be on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing in March but switched his ticket to avoid a stopover. The flight disappeared from radar and has yet to be found.

"I could have taken that one just as easily," de Jonge said, according to RTV Oost. "It's inconceivable. I am very sorry for the passengers and their families, yet I am very pleased I'm unharmed."

According to his website, de Jonge, who finished 35th at the Dutch cycling event, was still planning to fly to Malaysia via Frankfurt on Sunday.

"I have been lucky twice,” he said. “You should try not to worry too much because then you won’t get anywhere."

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據外國媒體7月21日報道，一位荷蘭籍自行車手先后購買了馬來西亞航空公司MH370和MH17航班的機票，但都在最后一刻決定改簽，兩次幸運地躲過了死神之手。

29歲的馬爾滕·德揚是馬來西亞登嘉樓州自行車隊的一名隊員。他在自己個人網站的一份聲明中表示，自從他在社交網絡“推特網”上敘述了自己幸運的經歷以來，已經快要被媒體的采訪要求給淹沒了。

“老實說，面對這么多的采訪要求，我有點不知所措。”馬爾滕說，“這兩起事故都太可怕了，如此多的受害者都因此而失去了生命。為了表示對這些受害者及其家屬的尊敬，我覺得不應該再四處講述自己的故事了。”

在最近發生的馬航MH17事故中，一枚地對空導彈在俄烏邊境擊中了這架載有298名乘客的客機，其中189人為荷蘭公民。機上無一人幸存。

對此，馬爾滕表示，他很“慶幸”自己在最后一刻沒有乘坐這架客機，但和其他遇難者相比，這算不了什么。因此，他呼吁人們更多地關注遇難者及其家屬，并希望每一個因為因此而受到影響的人能夠堅強地面對生活。

在接受當地一家電視臺采訪時，馬爾滕回憶說，自己在結束了于荷蘭舉行的全國冠軍公路賽后，本打算乘坐7月17日的MH17航班返回吉隆坡，但為了省錢還是決定先到法蘭克福轉機。

另據英國《每日電訊報》報道，今年3月，馬爾滕曾計劃乘坐MH370航班，但為了避免中轉而改了機票。而這架客機之后也神秘地從雷達中消失了，至今仍下落不明。

“我本來很容易就能登上那一架飛機的。”馬爾滕說，“真是太不可思議了。一方面，我為那些遇難者和他們的家屬表示遺憾。另一方面，我為自己能夠躲過一劫而感到非常高興。”

在他的網站上，這位剛剛在荷蘭自行車賽中獲得第35名的車手表示，自己依然打算乘坐周日的航班由法蘭克福飛往馬來西亞。

“我這兩次都非常地幸運。”他說，“不過，我不會太擔心自己今后是否還會出事，不然我就哪兒也去不了了。”

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（譯者 yhuang 編輯王輝）

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