Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine, 298 dead, 27 Australians on board

London: A Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has been shot down in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, claiming the lives of 298 passengers and crew, including 27 Australians.

It was originally reported that 295 passengers and crew were on board the plane. However, Malaysia Airlines has updated the figures to 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

Emergencies Ministry members work at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region. Photo: Reuters

"This is a grim day for our country and it's a grim day for our world," prime minister Tony Abbott said in a speech to parliament, in which he said the plane appeared to have been brought down by Russian-backed rebels.

"As things stand this looks less like an accident than a crime."

"And if so the perpetrators must be brought to justice."

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200, similar to the one that was shot down, takes off from Los Angeles International Airport. Photo: AP

The tragedy marks a serious escalation of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and comes only months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared somewhere over the Indian Ocean. It is the biggest overseas disaster affecting Australians since the Bali bombing of 2002. 

DFAT has urged family members unable to contact next of kin to call its 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 61 2 6261 3305 from overseas. Within Australia, the number is 1300 555 135. 

"If you have any concerns for the welfare of Australian family or friends, you should attempt to directly contact them," the Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at the site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash. Photo: Reuters

There were 154 Dutch passengers on MH17. Malaysia Airlines said there were also 45 Malaysian, 12 Indonesian, and nine British passengers aboard the flight. 

Bodies and burning wreckage were scattered over the countryside near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

Russia's ambassador

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17 a 'terrorist act' and blamed pro-Russian rebels on shooting it down. Photo: Reuter

''Now, it’s important that we don't make a situation worse, but if, as now sees certain, it has been brought down by a Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile, Russia bears a heavy share of responsibility.”

US intelligence officials confirmed that a surface-to-air missile brought down the airline. However, which side used the missile was less clear, officials said. A radar system reportedly saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft just before the plane went down.

Another system saw a heat signature when the airliner was hit in the air. Experts were tracing the missile's trajectory to work out whether it was launched from Ukraine or Russian territory. 

People, who said they believed their relatives were on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, react as they wait for more information about the plane at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Photo: Reuters

Independent Western defence experts say both Ukrainian and Russian armed forces possess SA-17 missile launchers capable of reaching an altitude of 20,000 metres and that pro-Moscow insurgents may have gotten their hands on one to two surface-to-air missiles when Ukrainian forces retreated.

Victims

About 100 of the passengers on the doomed flight were headed to a major international AIDS conference in Melbourne.

"A number of people who were travelling to Malaysia for an international AIDS conference were also on board," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters.

"At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy," the conference organisers, the International AIDS Society, said in a statement.

Melbourne couple Albert and Maree Rizk have been confirmed as victims of the flight. The were thought to be returning from a holiday in Europe.

Elaine Teoh, a 27-year-old Melbourne University student, has been confirmed as a passenger on the flight.

Airspace

The International Air Transportation Association said that the airspace the aircraft was traveling through was not subject to restrictions, according to the Malaysian Prime Minister's office.

However, aviation safety authorities in the US and Europe warned pilots in April about potential risks flying in or near Ukraine airspace.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on April 23 issued a "special notice" regarding Ukrainian airspace to US aviators and air carriers advising them not to fly in airspace around the Crimean city of Simferopol without special approval of the US government.

Eastern Ukraine has been racked for months by a violent pro-Russian separatist uprising in which a number of military aircraft have been downed. The geopolitical tussle has plunged relations between the US and Russia to their lowest level since the Cold War.

This would be the first commercial airline disaster to result from the hostilities. Despite the turmoil in eastern Ukraine, the commercial airspace over that part of the country is a heavily trafficked route and has remained open.

Malaysia Airlines said MH17 did not make a distress call.

By: Nick Miller

Source: Sydney Morning Herald