There was at least one American citizen killed in Thursday’s horrific plane crash that took 298 innocent lives from around the world, President Obama announced Friday morning.
Reuters had reported on Thursday that 23 Americans were on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, but Obama said officials now believe that Quinn Lucas Schansman was the only one.
He held dual citizenship in the US and the Netherlands. Schansman, 19, lived in Fort Lee, NJ, as a child but moved to the Netherlands when he was 5, NBC News reported.
“He was kind,” friend Fabrienne Schriek said. “He stuck up for you and made you laugh when he saw there was something wrong.”
“Miss you buddy,” another pal posted on Schansman’s wall.
Many who knew him sent condolences on Facebook to his grieving girlfriend, Floor van Dranen. Hours after hearing the news of the crash, she changed her cover photo to a snapshot of the pair in a loving liplock.
His grandfather, Ronald Schansman, told CBS in Philadelphia that “as a grandparent you just hope that none of the children or grandchildren will go before you, and now it has happened.”
Schansman’s dad was headed to Holland to arrange his son’s funeral.
A business student, Schansman held dual US-Dutch citizenship and attended business school in Amsterdam.
“This was a global tragedy,” Obama said at a press conference. He demanded action for the “outrageous event” and vowed to offer any assistance necessary to help find answers to what made a passenger plane fall from the sky over the war-torn region between Russia and Ukraine.
Nationalities for 294 passengers — among them 189 Dutch, 44 Malaysian, 27 Australian and 12 Indonesian — have been confirmed by Malaysia Airlines officials, but four passengers origins have not been announced yet.
A Facebook page that appears to be Schansman shows a young man with light brown hair who recently added a milestone to his timeline — announcing an April move to Amsterdam. News of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from his friends. “miss you buddy,” one wrote.