Cork-based chefs saved €200 and their lives by switching flights

Friends, family and work colleagues of two Cork-based Malaysian chefs feared the men had died in Thursday’s doomed MH17 flight — only to get confirmation almost 24 hours later that the two men had actually travelled home to Kuala Lumpur on a different carrier.

Zul 33, and Ujang 38, who work at the Ramen restaurant on Anglesea St in Cork City, had travelled to Dublin early on Thursday morning to get a flight home.

Their families — the two men have eight children between them — had already flown to Malaysia but Zul and Ujang had remained in Cork to help train staff for a new restaurant outlet in Dennehy’s Cross.