Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor
New Delhi: A Malaysia passenger airliner MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board crashed - possibly shot down - in Eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on Thursday. The tragic accident comes after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in March earlier this year.
"Based on the information currently available, it is believed that the airspace that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions," the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association said in a statement.
In addition, 23 others were from Malaysia, 11 were Indonesian, six were British, four were German, another four were from Belgium, three were from the Philippines and one was Canadian.
Around 50 passengers remained unidentified, Malaysian Airlines vice president Huib Gorter said.
"There is no doubt that the country on whose territory this terrible tragedy happened bears responsibility," Putin was quoted by Ria Novosti news agency as saying yesterday.
Also Read: MH17 crash: Full text of Malaysian PM`s statement
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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.
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.
The Boeing passenger liner came down close to town of Shaktarsk region of Donetsk, where the Pro-Russians rebels are fighting with the Ukrainian security forces, after it disappeared from the radar.
This is the second major tragedy with which the Malaysia Airlines have been struck in a matter of few months. Flight number MH370 with around 250 people on board mysteriously disappeared in March this year. The search for that plane is still going on near the Indian Ocean.
Following the crash, Air India Turkish, France and Lufthansa airlines have announced that their planes will avoid Ukraine airspace.
Here are some pictures of the debris of the felled Malaysian plane
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