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Woman loses brother on MH370, then loses stepdaughter on MH17

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down Thursday near the border between Russia and Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

By Aileen Graef

BRISBANE, Australia, July 18 (UPI) -- Australian woman Kaylee Mann lost her brother on MH370 in March, then found out her stepdaughter was killed on MH17 after the plane was shot down over Ukraine Thursday.

Mann's brother, Rod Burrows and his wife Mary were on Malaysia Flight 370 when it vanished en route to Beijing in March. On Friday, Mann was notified that two of the 27 Australians who died on Malaysia Flight 17 were her stepdaughter Maree Rizk, and Rizk's husband, Albert.

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"It's just ripped our guts again," Greg Burrows, Mann's brother, told reporters.

The Rizks, who were returning from a four-week vacation, did not even plan to be on that flight. According to the family's spokesman Ken Grech, they tried to change their flight to avoid a long layover in Kuala Lumpur.

"Nobody could predict they were going to get shot down," Burrows said, adding that the family does not blame Malaysia Airlines.

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