Kuala Lumpur: Terrorists shot down a Malaysian Airlines plane on Thursday over war-torn eastern Ukraine near Russia border which cause death of all 298 on board members. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it had lost contact with Flight MH17 at 1415 GMT (8:45 IST) at 30km from Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko said, “Nearly 300 people died when a Malaysia Airlines Boeing- 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine.”
He said, “It was flying at the altitude of 10,000 meters. 280 passengers and 15 crew members died. The aircraft was shot down over Ukraine by terrorists operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system.”
The reports said that 23 Americans, 9 Britons and 71 Dutch nationals were among passengers. Russia sent its Ukrainian colleagues a request to conduct joint rescue works at the crash site. The plane disappeared from the radar and teams from the emergency services have reached the scene.
Burning aircraft wreckage and bodies strewn on the ground were seen at the village of Grabovo, some 40 kms from the Russian border in an area where pro-Russian rebels are active.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the jetliner may have been shot down over his country’s airspace.
He said, “This incident is not a catastrophe. It is a terrorist act.”
Ukrainian officials have accused pro-Russian rebels of being responsible for shooting down the plane. But the press service of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic claimed the jet was downed by a missile fired from a Ukrainian air force Su-25 combat jet, a charge denied by Ukraine.
Meanwhile President Poroshenko in a statement said, “We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Naajib Razak said, “I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.
It has also been notify that a number of Ukrainian military planes have been shot down by missiles in recent weeks.
US President Barack Obama had described the incident as a “terrible tragedy”.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply