A Malaysian airliner 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.
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- Russia n rebels, Anton
Gerashchenko said, adding that it was hit by a ground-to-air
missile.
There was no further confirmation of the report, although
Ukrainian officials said local residents had found wreckage.
Malaysia Airlines said on its Twitter feed it had lost contact
with its flight MH-17 from Amsterdam. “The last known
position was over Ukrainian airspace,” it said.
Gerashchenko was quoted as saying: “A civilian airliner
travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has just been
shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft system … 280 passengers
and 15 crew have been killed.”
Interfax-Ukraine quoted another Ukrainian official as saying
the plane disappeared from radar when it was flying at
10,000 metres (33,000 feet), a typical cruising altitude for
airliners.
It came down at Torez, near Shakhtersk, some 40 km from
the Russia border. The area has been the scene of fighting
between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels.
Ukraine has accused Russia of taking an active role in the
four-month-old conflict in recent days and accused it earlier
on Thursday of shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet – an
accusation that Moscow denied.
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