Politics and war games aside, perhaps one of the most poignant and heart-wrenching parts of the MH17 tragedy is the number of young lives it has brought to a screeching, horrifying end. This selfie is of just one of the estimated 80 young souls aboard the plane.

Gary Slok, 15, and his mother Petra Langeveld both lost their lives when a missile shot down the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur plane as it flew over eastern Ukraine.

The pair were heading to a holiday designed for single parents and their children.

But just three hours after apparently posing for this picture, they were killed alongside 296 other passengers and crew members.

One Australian mother has reported losing all three of her children in the crash. The pain and grief of these parents is unimaginable and condolences seem futile in light of the magnitude of it all. It is unsurprising that at times like these even those who are not normally religious turn to a higher power and pray.

More details of victims involved in the crash at The Daily Mail.