Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine, 295 on board, third incident in area
Malaysia
Airlines flight MH17, from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over eastern Ukraine by militants on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard, a Ukrainian interior ministry official was quoted as saying by Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Reuters reported.
The aircraft, which other sources said was a Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, came down near the city of Donetsk, stronghold of pro-Russian rebels, Anton Gerashchenko said, adding that it was hit by a ground-to-air missile.
It was also reported that the crash was the third incident of a plane crash in the same area in the past week.
There was no further confirmation of the report, although Ukrainian officials said local residents had found wreckage.
A Ukraine Emergency Ministry official on site says body parts was seen scattered around up to 15km from the crash site with at least 100 bodies seen on the ground.
The plane was said to be carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew and is said to have been shot down while it was at an altitude of 10km over Ukrainian airspace.
The plane was found “burning on the ground,” according to the report. A YouTube clip of the alleged crash site was captured by Ukrainian activists (see clip below).
The aircraft came down close to town of Shaktarsk, some 40km from the Russian border, in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk after disappearing from the radar and teams from the emergency services were trying to reach the scene, an unnamed security source told Interfax-Ukraine news agency, according to AFP.
Malaysia Airlines have now confirmed that they "have lost contact with flight MH17 over Ukraine".
Meanwhile, both the Malaysian and Ukrainian governments have acknowledged the incident with Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tweeting "I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation."
In Kiev, the Ukraine prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk said he has ordered an investigation into the Malaysian "airplane catastrophe", Reuters reports. – July 17, 2014.
