A Malaysia Airlines plane brought home the remains of 20 of the 48 Malaysian nationals killed when a suspected surface-to-air missile struck the Kuala Lumpur-bound plane over eastern Ukraine on July 17.

A minute's silence was observed across Malaysia at 10.55am local time, around an hour after the remains were returned from The Netherlands - where they were taken for identification.

Malaysia's King Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Prime Minister Najib Razak were among the officials who received the coffins at a solemn ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Flags are also being flown at half-mast nationwide.

The Malaysian delegation at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing also held a minute's silence. 

Wong Pei Tty, Malaysia's Chef de Mission at Nanjing 2014, revealed that the team had watched on television in the Youth Olympic Village the return of the remains of 20 Malaysians on board the flight as they arrived back in Kuala Lumpur. 

Malaysia's team at the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2014 had walked in behind a flag that was at half-mast as they all wore black armbands in memory of those killed when flight MH17 crashed ©AFP/Getty Images

Malaysia's team at the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2014 had also carried in their country's flag at half-mast and wore black armbands in memory of those that lost their lives in the tragedy. 

The downed Malaysia Airlines flight killed 298 people, including 15 Malaysian crew.

It had departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.