THE HAGUE, July 23 -- The Netherlands held a day of national mourning Wednesday for the first time since 1962, commemorating the victims of the MH17 air crash disaster in eastern Ukraine.

Flags flew at half-mast at all main buildings of the central government, municipalities and provinces, and at Dutch diplomatic missions abroad.

Church bells will ring at different times of the day and for five minutes before the first aircraft with bodies of victims arrives in Eindhoven around 4 p.m local time (1400 GMT).

After the plane lands, a minute's silence will be observed nationwide. The government has not stipulated that shops should close or events be canceled.

A special prayer service will be held at St. George Church in Amersfoort, broadcast live on Dutch television while a silent march is scheduled to take place in Amsterdam in the evening.

Of the 298 victims, 193 were Dutch nationals. The Netherlands does not have a tradition of national mourning days, but on Monday various political parties requested it as a way to commemorate the victims and Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, "If the need arises, we can change that." It was announced on Tuesday that Wednesday would be designated a day of national mourning.

The last day of national mourning was Dec. 8, 1962, the day when late Queen Wilhelmina was interred. On that day many events were canceled across the country.