Reports have just come in that a Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 295 passengers has been shot down by a missile over the border of Russia and Ukraine.
Russian news agency Interfax cites Ukraine’s Interior Ministry advisor as saying all aboard the plane have died.
Live crash images can be seen here
The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and carrying 295 passengers when it was shot down flying at 32,000 Feet. According to reuters, the plane didn’t enter Russian airspace as scheduled and was shot down by a missile. Plane was expected to enter Russian airspace at 5:20pm local time, but never did.
Malaysian Airlines authorities have confirmed that they have lost contact with the plane but haven’t yet confirmed if it has been shot down or crashed. A source has told Reuters that a Malaysia Airlines plane has been found burning in Eastern Ukraine. This is one of the saddest incidents in the aviation history.
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
It is being speculated that the plane was shot down by a BUK surface to air missile. According to sources, the tail number of the crashed Malaysian plane is reported to be 9M-MRD. It was operating as flight 17 these days. The Boeing 777-200ER was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 1997 and was in perfect working order.
Boeing had this to say on the incident:
Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board MH17, as well as their families and loved ones. We stand ready to provide assistance.
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) July 17, 2014
First eyewitnesses to the crash site have uploaded the following images on twitter:
A video has also emerged on youtube showing smoke billowing from the crash site.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY: We will update our readers with more information as the story develops. Keep following this page for more.