Malaysia Airlines flight MH17: What we know

The world is still reeling from the news that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile, resulting in the deaths of all 298 people on board.

283 passengers and 15 crew members. A lot of questions reamain unanswered while the world turn their eyes to political leaders and to their statements.

Here is what we really know about the flight:

The flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777 took off at 8:30pm Thursday and disappeared from radar at 12:15am Friday. The plane crashed in Easter Ukraine, close to the border with Russia. It really came down in rebel held territory and no distress call was issued. A video posted from YouTube show debris raining from the sky and a fireball on the ground.

On board were 283 passengers and 15 crew members. 189 people from Netherlands, 44from Malaysia, 28 Australians, 12 from Indonesia, 9 from the UK, 4 from Germany, 4 from Belgium, 3 from Philippines, 1 Canadian, 1 New Zealander and 4 people are still unidentified.

But, was the plane definitively shot down? It seems that Ukrainian signals intercepts captured pro-Russian separatists claiming responsibility for downing the jet, but there has been no official confirmation and rebels in the region have not officially claimed responsibility.

Did the rebels intend to target the passenger plane? The wire taps would suggest that they did not. "They say it's written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine's territory?" a militant was recorded as saying. Aviation expert Andrew Charlton says while a passenger plane looks different from a military aircraft, mistakes can happen.

How was the plane shot down? Military analysts say a medium-range surface-to-air missile is the weapon most likely to be used to shoot down a passenger airliner. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have variants of the Buk, a surface-to-air missile system that can hit targets at an altitude of up to 25 kilometres.

The international reaction: what's next? Australian foreign Minister Julie Bishop is heading to the USA to campaign for an international investigation into what took place.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has warned Russia's president Vladimir Putin he has "one last chance" to show he is serious about helping rescuers recover the bodies of the victims. However, Russia has vowed its support for an independent investigation into the crash.

Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama directed US officials to do all they could to support an investigation into what caused the crash. Mr Obama and his Ukrainian counterpart have emphasised that evidence from the crash must remain in Ukraine so international investigators have a chance to look at all of it.

The US president is said to have told Mr Putin that the US could impose more sanctions on Russia if Moscow does not take steps to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.

By Adriana Rueda

Source: ABC News