A Malaysian Airlines passenger plane has been shot down on the Russian-Ukraine border in an 'act of terrorism', killing all 298 people on board including around 100 children.
The Boeing 777 aircraft exploded into flames at 33,000ft as it was hit by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile over territory near Donetsk held by pro-Russian rebels who the Ukrainian government says are backed by the Kremlin.
Dutch authorities have said that at least six Britons, 154 Dutch and 27 Australians were on board the doomed plane, and it is feared that up to 23 Americans and four French passengers had been killed.
American officials confirmed the plane was hit by a single missile while at cruising speed.
The Ukrainian authorities laid the blame for the attack on the rebels by denying any responsibility for the missile launch, with President Petro Poroshenko called the downing an act of terrorism as he called for an international investigation into the crash.
As pictures of bodies and debris emerged, the tragedy sparked a full-blown international crisis last night, increasing tension between Moscow and Washington. While Ukraine and Russia blamed each other, US senator John McCain vowed there would be �hell to pay� if it was confirmed that the surface-to-air missile had been fired by the rebels or their Russian backers, while Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the tragedy.
Airlines were advised to cease flights over the region � and faced questions as to why commercial jets had been flying over what is effectively a war zone.
Last night there was speculation that the doomed Flight MH17 had taken a short-cut across the disputed region of eastern Ukraine to save fuel.
As relatives gathered at airports for news of missing loved ones, it emerged that airlines had twice been warned about the risk of flying over an area where two Ukrainian military aircraft had already been shot down this week.
But many carriers continued to use the route because it was shorter and therefore cheaper.
Flight MH17 had taken off from Amsterdam at lunchtime and was flying at around 33,000ft on one of the main routes from Europe to Asia when it was struck by the missile. It came down near a poultry farm in the village of Grabovo, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels about 30 miles from the Ukraine-Russia border.
Witnesses claimed to have seen bodies falling out of the stricken plane over the village of Rassypnaya. Some residents feared they were being bombed.
Aleks Noit, whose relatives live nearby, said more than a dozen corpses, some naked, were strewn around the village.
�Wreckage and bodies fell on the private houses in the village and near the hospital. People in uniform collected the corpses,� he said.
Others described an entire field covered in debris from the plane and body parts scattered across an area up to nine miles in diameter, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air.
An emergency services rescue worker said at least 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene, lying alongside broken pieces of the wings marked with the red and blue paint used on the airline's fleet.
Ukrainian authorities released what it said was a recording of a phone conversation between separatists and President Putin�s intelligence services. In it, a rebel nicknamed �Major� says the Malaysian Airlines jet was shot down by �Cossacks from the Chernukhino roadblock� adding: �It is definitely a civilian plane... there was a lot of people on board.�
Rebel commander Igor Strelkov bragged on Twitter, �We warned you � do not fly in �our sky�� but deleted the tweet when the full horror of the disaster became clear.
Putin has laid the blame for the crash on Ukraine.
A Kremlin statement said Mr Putin opened a meeting with his economic advisers by calling for a moment of silence over the crash.
Then, he said, 'This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in south-east Ukraine. And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy.'
Ukrainian President Poroshenko issued a robust denial that his forces were involved in shooting down the plane, saying: 'We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets.'
'We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible,' he added.
A spokesman for the rebels said that the plane must have been shot down by Ukrainian government troops.
Source : SkyNews, DailyMail , AP , Mashable , Reuters
