Malaysian plane with 295 people ‘shot down’ over Ukaraine
The site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash with 295 people on board in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine yesterday.
A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people has crashed in east Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, amid allegations it was shot down.
Bodies are scattered around what is believed to be the wreckage of the jet near the village of Grabovo, which is under the control of separatist rebels.
Flight MH17 had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.
Ukraine’s president called the loss of the plane an “act of terrorism” as the rebels denied shooting it down.
The separatists are believed to have shot down two Ukrainian military planes over the region in recent days.
There is no official closure of Ukraine airspace but Germany’s Lufthansa, Air France and Turkish Airlines are all now avoiding eastern Ukraine..
Russia’s emergency services have reportedly asked the Ukrainian government for permission to work at the crash site.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak spoke of his shock and said he was launching an immediate inquiry into the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his US counterpart, Barack Obama, by phone about the crash, the Kremlin said in a statement (in Russian).
The plane fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.
Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the plane had been hit by a missile at an altitude of 10,000m (32,000ft). The claim could not be verified independently..
At least 100 bodies have been found so far at the scene, an emergencies worker told Reuters news agency at the scene, with wreckage spread across an area of up to about 15km (nine miles) in diameter.
Broken pieces of the wings were marked with blue and red paint - the same colours as the emblem of the Malaysian airline, the agency said.
“I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang and shots,” a witness called Vladimir told Reuters.
“Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke.”
A separatist rebel from nearby Krasnyi Luch who gave his name as Sergei said: “From my balcony I saw a plane begin to descend from a great height and then heard two explosions.”
Ukraine has accused Russia’s military of supplying advanced missiles to the rebels.