Malaysia Airlines flight shot down in rebel-held Ukraine; all 298 on board dead, black box found
A Malaysia passenger airliner MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board has crashed - possibly shot down - in Eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The tragic accident comes after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in March earlier this year.
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Singapore Airlines SQ351 (B777) and Air India AI113 (B787) were about 25 km from #MH17 when it disappeared. pic.twitter.com/BVDMlqGOjG
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 17, 2014
Soon after the reports of downing of the MH17 jetliner, Malaysia Airlines tweeted on its official Twitter handle confirming that the contact was lost with the flight when it was flying over Ukraine.
Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.
— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) July 17, 2014
There were 298 people, including 15 crew members, on board the Boeing 777-200 aircraft which was flying from Amsterdan to Kuala Lumpur. All on board the plane are feared to be dead in the crash and as per an Ukrainian official more than 100 bodies have been cited at the site of the crash, also adding that body parts were seen scattered around an area of 15 kms around the where the plane came down crashing.
The plane which flew from the Amsterdam airport at 12:10 pm local time was suppose to land at Kuala Lumpur airport at 6:00 AM local time.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak said that he`s shocked with the reports of the plane crash, adding that an immediate investigation into the crash has been launched.
I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) July 17, 2014
It is also being speculated that the airliner has been shot down by the separatists. However, there is no official confirmation of the reports saying that the plane was fired at.
Ukraine pro-Russia rebels said that they didn`t shoot down airliner, and blamed the Ukrainian armed forces.
Only a highly sophisticated weapon system can shoot down a plane flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet, which the flight MH17 was flying at.
While separatists denied shooting down the plane, Ukrainian President Petro Porshenko said that he believes "terrorist act" cause the plane to crash, according to BBC.
![](http://ste.india.com/sites/default/files/inline/o-malaysia-airlines-570.jpg)
Flight #MH-17 #Torez #Donetsk #Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic.twitter.com/z4byDeovcp— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
RT: "@POWER987News: Passport recovered on the scene of the #MH17 crash.. pic.twitter.com/lBTfle40Ii"
— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
Flight #MH-17 #Torez #Donetsk #Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic.twitter.com/nrokR3svTU— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
Flight #MH-17 #Torez #Donetsk #Ukraine by Nadezhda Chernetskaya pic.twitter.com/2o0SGVnjbE— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
Flight #MH-17 #Torez #Donetsk #Ukraine More photos pic.twitter.com/XjaQYTniDv— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
Flight #MH-17 #Torez #Donetsk #Ukraine . Don't know what part of the plane is this. pic.twitter.com/kniwpcyfsG— legionar (@MatevzNovak) July 17, 2014
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