THE funeral of Flight MH17 victim John Alder will be held tomorrow (Friday, October 31).
The 63-year-old avid Newcastle United fan died in July with fellow supporter Liam Sweeney when the Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down over Ukraine. There were no survivors.
The pair were flying out to New Zealand to watch their team play a pre-season friendly match.
Mr Alder, of Deckham, Gateshead, had not missed a match since 1973.
His family, some of whom live in Darlington, plan to donate his vast collection of match programmes so they can be auctioned for charity.
The ceremony will be held in the Gateshead area but the family want it to be a private affair.
A spokesman for Durham Police, whose family liaison officer is supporting Mr Alder’s family, saud they did not want to give any details about the funeral arrangements other than to say it was taking place tomorrow (Friday, October 31) in the Gateshead area.
It is believed that the aircraft Mr Alder was travelling was hit by a rocket fired by pro-Russian forces fighting a civil war against the Ukraine authorities
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