Lange and his partner Jacqueline van Tongeren were passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 , which was shot down near Hrabove , Ukraine , on 17 July 2014 . He was en route to Melbourne to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference , starting on 20 July . His death was mourned by his peers , with the IAS stating that they had " truly lost a giant " , while conference delegates interviewed by the media were described as being in " total shock "
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Joep Lange