Many of the passengers aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight that crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday were World Health Organization staffers heading to a conference on AIDS research in Australia, the Guardian reported.

Approximately 100 of the passengers on board were heading to Melbourne for the conference, The Sydney Morning Herald reports, citing conference attendees.

Former International AIDS Society president Joep Lange was a passenger on the plane, the paper reports.

"Joep had an absolute commitment to HIV treatment and care in Asia and Africa," Kirby Institute Director David A Cooper said in a University of New South Wales press release. "The joy in collaborating with Joep was that he would always bring a fresh view, a unique take on things, and he never accepted that something was impossible to achieve."

Glenn Thomas, a spokesperson for WHO's Global TB Program, was also among the victims, according to a fellow staffer. Global TB Program Coordinator Haileyesus Getahun shared the news via Twitter. PICS- Reuters

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