Malaysia Airlines Jet Shot Down in Ukraine

Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 1:48 PM ET, Thu July 17, 2014

NOTE: This story will be continuously updated at the bottom as facts are confirmed.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine, according to numerous reports.

At issue is whether the Flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists.

There were 280 passengers and 15 crew aboard.

Ukrainian activists posted this video it claims is the wreckage of the flight, although it is unconfirmed at this point:

According to a Reuters reporter at the scene, broken pieces of wing marked with Malaysia Airlines' red and blue livery have been seen among the wreckage. Aviation analyst Chris Yates tells BBC Radio 4's PM program that if it was a missile that brought the aircraft down, it would have to be a long range one as opposed to a portable system.

The Associated Press is reporting that Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko said his country's armed forces did not shoot at any airborne targets.

"We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets," he said. "We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible.''

The tragedy comes a little more than four months after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which is still missing.

UPDATE, 2:15 p.m. EDT
Pieces of informtion are starting to trickle in. There are reports that 23 Americans were on the flight manifest, yet to be confirmed. President Obama is expected to speak soon. Pro-Russian separatists have shot down Ukrainian jets in the past few weeks, but not a commercial flight.

UPDATE, 2:50 p.m. EDT

Several airlines including Delta, Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish Airlines and Russian airline Transaero have announced they will avoid Ukrainian airspace until further notice.

Russian news organization LifeNews secured footage from the crash site showing boarding passes and passports of passengers on board the crashed flight. Any shots showing remains have been blurred, but the footage may still be disturbing to some.


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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