Malaysian athletes honor victims of Flight 17

Malaysian athletes wore black arm bands and held their flag at half-staff as they marched in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which began competition in Scotland on Thursday.

The national team was honoring the 298 victims of the Malaysia Airlines jet shot down over Ukraine this month.

About one-third of the passengers on that flight were citizens of the Commonwealth, officials noted during the ceremony. The Commonwealth Games association president, Prince Imran, is Malaysian.

The crowd of 40,000 at Celtic Park in Glasgow observed a moment of silence as Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, expressed “our condolences and above all our solidarity with the loved ones of all those of every nationality who lost their lives.”

The Commonwealth Games, an Olympics-like competition among 71 nations, is scheduled to continue through Aug. 3.