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A plane which crashed in eastern Ukraine with 295 people on board was reportedly shot down as it flew through or near airspace deemed unsuitable for passenger jets.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) when it was brought down, Russia’s Interfax reported.

An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry told the news agency the Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile, killing all 280 passengers and 15 crew members.
The wreckage of the Boeing 777, which came down in Grabovo, Donetsk

There are reports of British victims, as well as 23 Americans, although the flight manifest has not yet been released.

Plumes of thick, black smoke could be seen rising high into the air near the village of Grabovo, Donetsk.

The plane, which one eyewitness said split in two on impact, is almost unrecognisable in pictures of the crash site, with burning wreckage scattered across a vast area.
Emergencies Ministry workers at the scene of the crash

A spokesman for Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370 in March, confirmed it had lost contact with flight MH17, which took off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport at 12.15pm local time.

The flight disappeared from radar as it flew over Ukrainian airspace, the spokesman said.

Officials in Kiev denied any involvement, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lamenting what he called an “act of terrorism”.
Flight MH17 was heading to Kuala Lumpur. Pic: Andreas Fietz

However, Alexander Borodai, the eastern Ukraine separatist leader, said the aircraft was shot down by government forces – a claim backed by a separatist from Krasnyi Luch, who told the Reuters news agency that rebels do not have weapons capable of shooting down a plane at such height.

Sky News correspondent Mark White, citing aviation sources, said the aircraft appeared to have been flying through a block of airspace deemed “unsuitable for civilian aircraft”.

“It doesn’t mean aircraft are banned from flying into that airspace but pilots are certainly advised not to,” he said.
Debris from the Malaysia Airlines plane was strewn over a vast area

“It raises questions about why the plane was in an area it had been advised not to fly through.

“Did it stray into that area by accident or did the pilot decide it was a risk worth taking, perhaps as a fuel saving measure?”

Sky’s Katie Stallard, in Moscow, said media reports suggest the plane came down in an area where there has been recent heavy fighting amid continuing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The plane’s last known position over Ukraine. Pic: Flightradar24/TwitterData from Flightradar24 indicates the plane had just passed the city of Kremenchuk, around 300km (186 miles) from the Russian border, when it disappeared.

Aviation expert Major Charles Hayman told Sky News: “It’s possible the Ukrainians flapped a bit, thought the plane was hostile and shot it down.

“It looks like someone failed to recognise this was a civilian aircraft.”

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered “his sincerest words of sympathy and support”, while Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was “shocked” by the tragedy.

Meanwhile, relatives of the victims of the MH370 tragedy also released a statement, saying: “Who would do such poisonous thing to a civil aeroplane?

“Passengers on board are ordinary people, just like our relatives. Why let them experience the torture? Why let other people feel the same pain as we do?”
:: Malaysia Airlines has set up an emergency line, 00 6 037 884 1234, for people worried their relatives may be on the flight.
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