Ceremony to Honour Plane Victims

Victims of the MH17 plane crash will be remembered at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. The Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down while flying over a rebel-held area of Ukraine last Thursday, with no survivors from the 298 people on board. A large number of those were from Commonwealth countries and they, as well as the other victims, will be recognised tonight. Speaking at a daily media briefing ahead of the ceremony, Prince Imran from Malaysia, the Commonwealth Games Federation's president, said: "I am from Malaysia and it's another sad occasion for our country, and for the airline.'' Referencing the MH370 flight, which disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur in March, he added: "It's a terrible thing to have two tragedies within months of each other. As I understand it there will be some recognition.'' David Grevemberg, chief executive of Glasgow 2014, added: "We will be paying tribute.'' Details, in keeping with the rest of the ceremony, are being kept under wraps. Mr Grevemberg also said tickets are still available for some sports, but sales from inside Scotland and beyond have been excellent. "We have box offices opening and I can't give a figure (on total sales) but there is availability across some of the sessions,'' he said. There has been fantastic demand and we have sold over 1.1 million tickets, which is brilliant. Recently we were at 95% and that will improve.'' The outgoing chief executive of the CGF, Mike Hooper, said:This just shows how much the people of Scotland, Glasgow and the UK have embraced these Games. It's exceeded expectations.'' Some 57% of tickets have been sold to Scots, with 40% purchased in the UK and 3% overseas, Mr Grevemberg estimated.