(CNN) — A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that “terrorists” shot down the aircraft.
The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn’t pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr.
The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit.
Nationalities aboard MH17 ( by CNN NEWS )
154 Dutch 43 Malaysian (including 15 crew) 27 Australian 12 Indonesian 9 British 4 German 4 Belgian 3 Filipino 1 Canadian 41 Unverified
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down by surface-to-air missile in what Ukrainian president calls ‘act of terrorism’
Vice President Joe Biden called the plane disaster ‘a grave situation.’ The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was reportedly shot down on Ukrainian-Russian border, killing all 298 people aboard. Ukrainian officials blamed Moscow while Russia blamed the Ukraine.
People walk among the debris at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine.
A surface-to-air missile fired from a war-torn stretch of Ukraine blew a Malaysia Airlines flight out of the sky Thursday, killing all 298 people aboard in a likely terror attack.
Officials in Ukraine immediately blamed the Russians.
“We are not calling it an accident or a disaster, but an act of terrorism,” said President Petro Poroshenko, demanding an international investigation as the wreckage still smoldered.
The 15 crew members of Flight 17 had no time to make a distress call before the flaming Boeing 777-200 aircraft crashed about 25 miles from the Russian border — sending an ominous plume of smoke skyward.
THE ROUTE TO DISASTER – path of doomed Flight MH17, shot down over the Ukraine
The plane was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It crashed near Donetsk, a stronghold for the pro-Russian separatists.
The Ukrainian government released what it called intercepted calls between Russian intelligence and local pro-Russian rebels discussing the “shootdown” of a Malaysia Airlines jet.
“The plane disintegrated midair . . . they found the first body,” says an unidentified rebel in a translation of the 21/2-minute chatter made public by Ukraine officials.
“It’s a civilian,” the rebel continues. “I mean, it’s definitely a civilian aircraft.”
SOURCE : http://www.nydailynews.com