The global AIDS summit in Melbourne, the planned final destination for some of the passengers on flight MH17, has now opened, amid a somber mood. The president of the International AIDS Society has confirmed that at least 6 attendees died in the crash including a senior scientist. But it’s thought that up to a hundred of the passengers may have been heading to the summit. Our reporter James Chau is now in Melbourne, following the conference for us.
Q1: Hi James. It’s hard to imagine what the mood is like there right now. Can you describe things for us - what have people there been saying?
Q2: We’ve heard that there was at least one senior AIDS scientist on board the flight, who had been working on finding a cure. Is it possible that this tragedy could actually set back the pace of AIDS research and even attempts to find a cure?