Malaysian Airlines fight MH17 carrying 295 passenger shot down by missile in Ukraine’s east, Interfax reports.
A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet which crashed as it flew over eastern Ukraine with 295 people on board was reportedly shot down.
The aircraft, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 10,000 metres when it was shot down on Thursday, Russia’s Interfax reported.
An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry told the news agency the Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko denied his armed forces were involved in the downing of the airliner.
“Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets,” Poroshenko said.
Malaysian Airlines confirmed it had lost contact with flight MH17 from Amsterdam, saying the aircraft was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew.
None are believed to have survived the crash.
“Malaysia Airlines confirms it received notification from Ukrainian ATC that it had lost contact with flight MH17 at 1415 (GMT) at 30km from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.
“Flight MH17 operated on a Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Amsterdam local time) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10 am (Malaysia local time) the next day,” the statement said.
The Associated Press news agency reported that its journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the site of the plane wreckage. It added that the field around the burning wreck was strewn with body parts and belongings of the passengers.
Investigation launched
The aircraft was flying normally, without problems until it disappeared from the radar, the head of the Ukrainian airspace regulatory body told Reuters news agency.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, reacted on Twitter saying: “I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.”
The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said he had been in touch with Ukraine’s president. “I am deeply shocked by the dramatic reports on the crash of of Malaysia Airlines MH17,” Rutte said.
Dutch tour operators have told local media they had booked dozens of Dutch citizens onto the flight.
“Much is still unclear about the facts, circumstances and the passengers,” Rutte said of the flight, which is listed on flight-tracking websites as sharing planes on some routes with Dutch national airline KLM.
One flight-tracking website showed that the flight path of MH17 was interrupted over Ukraine. The plane appeared to have come down in a region of military action where Ukrainian government forces are battling pro-Russian separatists.
A separate unnamed source in the Ukrainian security apparatus, quoted by Interfax, said the plane disappeared from radar at a height of 10,000 metres after which it came down near the town of Shakhtyorsk.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said the plane fell in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
“The investigation would be very difficult given that it’s controlled by the rebels,” he said. “Ukrainian officials are saying that many children were dead. Some are saying that all died. Reuters is reporting that body parts were found at the scene. It seems that it was a very gruesome scene.”
In April, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned American airlines to avoid the airspace over the region because it poses the “potential for conflicting air traffic control instructions from Ukrainian and Russian authorities and … the misidentification of civil aircraft.”
Airplane manufacturer Boeing released a statement expressing sympathy to those affected by the crash.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones. Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities,” the statement read.
Prior to Thursday’s Malaysian Airlines crash, a Ukrainian SU-25 attack plane was taken down by an air-to-air missile according to Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s national defence and Security Council. The pilot safely ejected.
On March 8, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passenger jet disappeared from radar screens en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, two-thirds of whom were from China.
The aircraft, yet another Boeing 777, is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, but an extensive search has turned up no sign of wreckage so far.
