MH17: The couple and their baby who narrowly missed getting on board

A British couple who were due to travel on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were forced to book tickets for another flight after they were told there were not enough seats for them.

Instead, Barry Sim, his wife Izzy and their young baby switched to a later flight with Dutch carrier KLM and subsequently spoke of their relief and the “sick feeling” they had experienced when they heard news of the tragedy.

You get this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach… We started getting butterflies. Your heartbeat starts going.

• Barry Sim, British tourist

“There must have been someone watching over us and saying ‘you must not get on that flight’,” explained Mrs Sim, speaking to the BBC.

“At this moment we are so glad to be on that KLM flight rather than that Malaysia Airlines flight," she added.

Mr Sim, from Aberdeenshire, told reporters: "In my mind lightning never strikes twice in the same place so I am still philosophical that you get on the flight and you go about your life.

“I know my wife doesn't feel like that. Probably the last thing she wants to do now is fly, especially to Kuala Lumpur."

A number of Britons are thought to have died in the crash, which has been blamed on a missile strike.