GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – One Geneva resident was among the 298 people who perished on board the Malaysia Airlines plane that – according to US officials – was brought down by a ground-to-air missile in a disputed region in eastern Ukraine.

The Geneva-based World Health Organization’s spokesperson Glenn Thomas was among the victims.

We lost one of our colleagues, Glenn Thomas, on the Malaysian Airlines #MH17 that crashed yesterday. He will be greatly missed #RIPGlennWHO

— WHO (@WHO) July 18, 2014

The news were also announced on Friday 18 July by the health organization at a bi-weekly press meeting at the UN in Geneva – same place where he regularly met with the UN-based press (see photo below).

All of @UNGeneva saddened by loss of #RIPGlennWHO. Our heart goes out to his family, friends and @WHO colleagues. http://t.co/RhHVtXBkpp

— UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) July 18, 2014

Thomas, who had previously worked for the BBC, was one of several people flying to a biennial AIDS conference in Australia where the WHO is to release a progress report on HIV treatment.

A British national, Thomas had worked for the WHO since 2003, participating regularly at press briefings in Geneva.

#RIPGlennWHO Dear All – we lost a great colleague on the #MH17 flight: Glenn Thomas. Member of my team. He will be so missed. @setiogi @WHO

— Gregory Härtl (@HaertlG) July 18, 2014

His death has been felt profoundly in the international community and – of course – at the WHO in particular.

It’s been a somber day here at @WHO. We turned Glenn’s desk into a memorial http://t.co/pwP4gJFBCg #RIPGlennWHO pic.twitter.com/9VLpJhPkQi

— Sari Setiogi (@setiogi) July 18, 2014

Other victims

On 19 July Malaysia Airlines published a list of the nationalities of the fatal victims which shows that a large majority were Dutch citizens.

The airline said the aircraft had received a “clean bill of health” and had a maintenance check on 11 July.

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