MAS plane with 295 on board shot down over Ukraine, Interfax reports

[SoleSurvivor]

MAS plane with 295 on board shot down over Ukraine, Interfax reports

Published: 17 July 2014

A Malaysia Airlines plane has crashed after it was shot down at an altitude of 10km over eastern Ukraine, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

It said the Boeing 777 plane carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew crashed near the Russian border in Ukraine.

The plane was found “burning on the ground,” according to the report.

The aircraft came down close to town of Shaktarsk in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk after disappearing from the radar and teams from the emergency services were trying to reach the scene, an unnamed security source told Interfax-Ukraine news agency, according to AFP. – July 17, 2014.

 

[SoleSurvivor]

Published: Thursday July 17, 2014 MYT 11:20:00 PM
Updated: Thursday July 17, 2014 MYT 11:40:00 PM

MAS plane crashes in Ukraine

by t avineshwaran

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane has reportedly crashed in Ukraine near Russian border.

The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 280 passengers and 15 crew, reports said.

Reports said that it crashed in a conflicted area near Donetsk and it would be complicated to get to the crash.

MAS sources said the plane did not enter the Russian airspace.

Sources said the plane was "shot down" while it was cruising at an altitude of 30,000ft.

Ukraine Interior Ministry said 295 people are feared dead in the crash.

More to come.

 

[Lotto]

Malaysian Airlines 'crash': Passenger plane with 295 people on board 'shot down' in Ukraine

Jul 17, 2014 16:57
By Steve Robson

It is understood the Boeing 777 plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur

Reports: The plane is understood to be a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777

A Malaysian passenger airliner with 295 people on board has crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border, according to reports.

A spokesman for Malaysia Airlines has confirmed "an incident" on board flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The airline says it will release more information as soon as possible.

Interfax news agency reports the the Boeing 777 plane was "shot down" at an altitude of 10km in Eastern Ukraine carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew.

The Malaysian airliner did not enter Russian airspace when expected and crashed, a Russian aviation industry source told Reuters.

Footage of thick black smoke billowing from the ground has been published on the Life-Marie YouTube channel claiming to show the scene of the crash.

Earlier today, Russian jets shot down a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter plane that was on military operations over the east of Ukraine.

It was the first time Ukraine had directly accused Russia of using air power in the war.

Government forces are fighting to quell a pro-Russian separatist rebellion.

In a previous attack on a military transporter, which it said was launched from Russia, Kiev was unable to specify whether it came from land-based missiles or airborne.

Russia's defence ministry declined to comment on the accusation.

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JhUkqs9CQ0w?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said the plane was brought down on Wednesday night near Amvrosiyivka, about about 9 miles from the border with Russia, by rockets which hit it in the tail as it wheeled away from the border.

"It is likely that this was carried out by air-to-air rockets from the Russian airforce which were patrolling the border in a pair," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The pilot safely ejected, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Defence and Security Council, told journalists.

The downing of the SU-25 came against a background of increasingly strident charges of direct Russian involvement in the three and a half month conflict in which the pro-Western government in Kiev is fighting to put down a rebellion by separatists who want a future in Russia.

In March, a Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board.

It is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean but despite extensive searches no wreckage has ever been found.

 

[Lotto]

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JhUkqs9CQ0w?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

This video shows the site of the crash in Ukraine, near the town of Shakhtyorsk.


​

 

[Lotto]

One Ukrainian official claims MH17 was shot down by a missile fired from a Buk launcher, while flying at an altitude of 33,000ft.

The footage below shows the type of missile launcher they say was involved.


<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TNSMjPxhmrY?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>


​

 

[Lotto]

Russia Today has tweeted this picture, which they say is an eyewitness photo of debris where MH17 came down.

The image below has not yet been verified.

The site of a Malaysia Airlines plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in Donetsk region:

​

 

[Lotto]

Malaysian Airlines MH17 passenger plane carrying 295 people including between five and ten Britons 'shot down with ground-to-air missile' at 33,000ft over Ukraine near to Russian border

• Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 shot down over territory held by Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine
• Body parts and wreckage spread over nine-mile area, suggesting plane broke up mid-air
• Ukrainian interior ministry says plane was shot down by a BUK surface-to-air missile
• President Petro Poroshenko issued robust denial that his forces were involved
• Pro-Russian rebels also denied shooting down the plane and blamed Ukrainian air force
• Journalists in region say they saw a Buk-type launcher in pro-Russian rebel hands yesterday

By Darren Boyle and Simon Tomlinson and John Hall
Published: 10:28 EST, 17 July 2014 | Updated: 12:55 EST, 17 July 2014

A Malaysian Airlines passenger plane has been shot down on the Russian-Ukraine border, killing all 295 people on board including a reported five to ten Britons.

The Boeing 777 aircraft was hit by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile over territory held by pro-Russian rebels who the Ukrainian government says are backed by the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian authorities laid the blame for the attack on the rebels by denying any responsibility for the missile launch.

TV pictures from the scene showed a pall of smoke billowing into the sky near Donetsk, apparently from the stricken flight MH17.

Witnesses say body parts are scattered over a distance of 15km, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air.

Whitehall sources told MailOnline that between five and ten Britons were feared dead. Interfax new agency reported that 23 U.S. citizens were on board.

Down: Smoke billows into the sky after a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot out of the sky at 33,000ft over eastern Ukraine, killing all 295 people on board

Tragedy: TV pictures show a pall of smoke billowing into the sky apparently from the stricken aircraft

Destroyed: An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine

Catastrophic: A view of one of a crash site in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region. Witnesses said bodies were found scattered for many kilometres

Carnage: A firefighter tackles a blaze at the site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region of Ukraine

Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'I'm shocked and saddened by the Malaysian air disaster. Officials from across Whitehall are meeting to establish the facts.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation told U.S. President Barack Obama that a Malaysian airplane crashed on Ukrainian territory, the Kremlin said.

The two leaders held a pre-planned call on the situation in Ukraine during which information became available from air traffic controllers about the crash.

The aircraft, which was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew, was flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur after taking off at lunchtime today.

It is believed the plane was struck by BUK surface-to-air missile at 33,000ft around 20 miles before entering Russian airspace.

Into a war zone: The jet was flying over the crisis-hit region of Ukraine, where the authorities have accused Russia-backed separatists of previous attacks on aircraft

Salvage operation: Emergencies Ministry members work at the crash site after the plane was shot down, killing all 295 on board

An unverified image posted online show Ukrainian inspecting what appears to be wreckage from the doomed flight

Ripped apart: Wreckage of the Malaysian Airlines flight after it crashed in rebel-held territory in Eastern Ukraine

Poignant: Passports of some of the victims. Emergency services rescue worker said at least 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene near the village of Grabovo

Doomed: Flight MH17 takes off from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam hours before it was shot down over Ukraine

SHOT OUT OF THE SKY: OTHER PLANES HIT MID-FLIGHT

April 20, 1978: Korean Airlines Flight 902, which diverted from its planned course on a flight from Paris to Seoul and strayed over the Soviet Union.

After being fired upon by an interceptor aircraft, the crew made a forced landing at night on the surface of a frozen lake. Two of the 97 passengers were killed by the hostile fire

September 1, 1983: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down by at least one Soviet air-to-air missile after the 747 had strayed into Soviet airspace. All 240 passengers and 29 crew were killed

July 3, 1988: Iran Air Flight 655 Aircraft was shot down by a surface to air missile from the American naval vessel U.S.S. Vincennes. All 16 crew and 274 passengers were killed

The missile system is an old Soviet-built weapon designed to engage light aircraft, cruise missiles and drones.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a robust denial that his forces were involved in shooting down the plane, saying: '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.'

'We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible,' he added.

Pro-Russian rebels also denied they were involved in the attack, saying they believed the plane had been shot down by the Ukrianian air force.

Earlier, pro-Russia rebels claimed responsibility for surface-to-air missile on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets yesterday.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile - not a BUK - adding that the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely.

Defence experts have expressed fears in the past they could be used to target at civil aircraft.

Earlier, defence analyst Major Charles Heyman, who edited a book called Armed Forces of the European Union, believes it could have been downed by a 'slack' Ukraine air defence centre.

He told Sky News: 'It looks like confusion. It’s possible that Ukraine thought it was hostile and not civilian and shot it down.'

Powerful: The BUK surface-to-air missile system (like this one) that is believed to have shot down flight MH17 is an old Soviet-built weapon designed to engage light aircraft, cruise missiles and drones

Path to disaster: A graphic showing the flight path of Malaysia Airlines MH17 after taking off from Amsterdam at lunchtime en route to Kuala Lumpur

Why was MH17 flying through a warzone? European safety watchdog warned against using Ukraine airspace since APRIL

Air accident investigators are planning to inspect the proposed flight plan lodged by pilots on board Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

The 17-year-old jet was shot down over Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine despite commercial aircraft being warned against using the airspace because of the ongoing conflict.

One of the major questions is whether the Malaysian flight crew received the warning from flight safety officials about the risk to safety.

The jet was travelling at 33,000 feet at 490 knots when it disappeared from radar screens over Donetsk.

It is believed that the Malaysian Airlines pilots ignored several warnings to avoid the airspace over Ukraine. It is understood the Malaysian Airline jet used the Ukrainian route to save fuel as diverting north or south would have taken longer.

In April, the European Aviation and Safety Agency warned: ‘Taking into consideration the recent publication by the Russian Federation of a series of notices to airmen (NOTAMs) modifying the Simferopol FIR which is under the responsibility of Ukraine, and their intent to provide air traffic services (ATS) within this airspace, the Agency draws the aviation communities’ attention to the possible existence of serious risks to the safety of international civil flights.

The doomed flight on the tarmac of Amsterdam airport just hours before it was shot down over Ukraine

‘Due to the unsafe situation where more than one ATS provider may be controlling flights within the same airspace from 3 April 2014, 0600 UTC onwards, consideration should be given to measures to avoid the airspace and circumnavigate the Simferopol FIR with alternative routings. ‘

On July 8, the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian aircraft after rebels shot a military transport aircraft that was flying over 20,000 feet.

The restriction, warned commercial aircraft from transiting

British aircraft were warned to avoid the area altogether. A Notice to Airmen, seen by Mail Online warned: ‘Due to the potential for conflicting air traffic control (ATC) instructions from Ukrainian and Russian authorities and for the related potential for misidentification of civil aircraft, UK aircraft operators are strongly advised to avoid, until further notice, the airspace over Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.’

The EASA supplied airlines with a list of alternative routes avoiding the conflict zone.

The US Federal Aviation Authority had also banned its aircraft from the Crimea region.

The suspected shooting down of a large passenger plane while flying at altitude presents airlines and their passengers with an extremely serious new development in air travel, according to aviation experts.

They also question the future of Malaysia Airlines - caught in the global glare of bad publicity following the disappearance of flight MH 370 earlier this year.

If today's incident is confirmed as a deliberate act then Ukraine airspace could well be closed down, meaning diversions for UK carriers who currently fly to and over the area.

‘This could be a very serious development,’ said David Kaminski-Morrow, air transport editor of Flightglobal magazine.

He went on: ‘If reports are true, we are not talking about small-arm fire but serious weaponry. Normally even if planes fly over a war zone they can go high enough for the conflict not to be a worry.

‘Any decision about the opening or closing of Ukranian airspace will be a matter for the Ukrainians. It could well be that part or all of that airspace will now be closed.

‘Also, individual airlines, including UK carriers, could decide to detour around Ukraine.’

Mr Kaminski-Morrow continued: ‘It's really quite incredible that it should be Malaysia Airlines involved in this, after what happened earlier in the year.

‘This is not a small airline on a faraway route. This was a major airline flying from a European destination to a capital in the Far East. There must be serious concerns about how the airline can recover from this.

‘There will obviously be political as well as aviation concerns from all this. This will run and run.’

Malaysian Airlines said they have no information about any survivors.

In a tweet, the airline said: 'Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.'

A Boeing spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones.

'Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities.'

The jet would have been flying at high altitude on an intercontinental flight that took it over the crisis hit region of Ukraine, where the authorities have accused Russia-backed separatists of previous attacks on aircraft.

Earlier today the Ukrainian authorities said one of their fighter jets was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane and Ukrainian troops were fired upon by missiles from a village inside Russia.

The alleged episodes mark what Ukraine says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine who have substantial quantities of powerful weapons.

A statement released by the Ukrainian President denying the plane was shot down by government forces

Malaysia Airlines confirms on Twitter (above) that it lost contact with flight MH17, the second tragedy to hit the airline this year after the disappearance of MH370, while Boeing is also investigates

Ukraine said a military transport plane was shot down Monday by a missile fired from Russian territory. Security Service chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said he had "unconditional evidence" that Russia was involved in downing that aircraft.

The crash comes four months after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which is though to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Two weeks ago, investigators say what little evidence they have to work with suggests the plane was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometres from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.

The search was narrowed in April after a series of acoustic pings thought to be from the plane's black box recorders were heard along a final arc where analysis of satellite data put its last location.

But a month later, officials conceded the wreckage was not in that concentrated area, some 1,000 miles off the northwest coast of Australia, and the search area would have to be expanded.

The next phase of the search is expected to start in August and take a year, covering some 60,000 sq km at a cost of AU$60 million ($56 million) or more. The search is already the most expensive in aviation history.

The new priority search area is around 2,000km west of Perth, a stretch of isolated ocean frequently lashed by storm force winds and massive swells.

HIJACKINGS, CRASHES AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: A TIMELINE OF OTHER DISASTERS TO HIT MALAYSIA AIRLINES

December, 4 1977 - Flight MH653 was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, killing all 100 people on board.

September 15, 1995 - Flight MH2133 touched down too far along the runway at Tawau Airport, Sabah, killing 32 passengers and two crew members.

March 15, 2000 - Flight MH85, travelling to Kuala Lumpur to Beijin, was damaged by the chemical oxalyl chloride, which leaked from canisters during unloading. The Airbus A330-300 was sufficiently damaged to be written-off.

March 8, 2014 - Fight MH370, carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers, went missing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport.

The Boeing 777 has still yet to be found, despite months of extensive searches in the southern Indian Ocean where it was believed to have crashed. The next phase of the search is expected to start in August and take a year, covering some 60,000 sq km at a cost of AU$60 million ($56 million) or more.

March 24, 2014 - Flight MH066, travelling from Kuala Lumper to Incheon, South Korea, was forced to make an emergency landing in Hong Kong after its main electricity generator failed.

Passengers onboard the flight later revealed they were told to prepare for an emergency water landing. However, the plane landed safely in Hong Kong in the early hours of the morning.

April 21, 2014 - Flight MH192, carrying 166 people, was forced to turn back to Kuala Lumpur while flying to India after a tyre burst and the right-hand landing gear malfunctioned. Police later confirmed an investigation had begun into whether the flight had been interfered with before take-off.

April 24, 2014 - A plane belonging to Firefly Airlines (a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines) was forced to return to Penang after suffering problems with its landing gear.

A statement on the company's website said: 'This was because the aircraft's landing gear was unable to retract after being airborne. As safety is of utmost priority to Firefly Airlines, the aircraft was required to turn back to Penang.'

July 17, 2014 - Flight MH17 was shot down on the Russian-Ukraine border, killing all 295 people on board.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 6:20:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 6:31:03 PM

MH17 crash: Reports black boxes sent to Moscow are unverified, says Liow

by tan yi liang

SEPANG: Reports that black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 have been recovered by pro-Russia separatists and are being sent to Moscow have yet to be officially confirmed, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

"I have heard about it, but it has yet to be verified. All this will be verified, as we have not received any official notes from the Ukraine authorities," said Liow.

He said this when asked at a press conference at the Sama-Sama Hotel here on Friday evening.

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the news of recovery of the black boxes came from officials from the breakaway Donestsk Republic.

“Of course, we most likely will give them to the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), to Moscow. They are highly qualified experts who will be able to accurately determine the cause of the disaster, even though it is so clear,” the report quotes Donestsk Republic First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Purgin as saying.

MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine at around 1415 GMT on Thursday, hours after the Boeing 777, bound for Kuala Lumpur, had taken off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

It is believed to have been accidentally shot down 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.

All 298 passengers and crew on board, including 43 Malaysians, are believed to have perished.

The area is currently being held by pro-Russian separatists.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 2:17:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 2:21:42 PM

MH17 crash: Najib’s step-grandmother was onboard flight

by patrick lee

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s step-grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah was one of the 43 Malaysians who are believed to have perished when Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine on Thursday.

According to a family spokeswoman, Siti was travelling alone on her way back to Jogjakarta, Indonesia from Amsterdam and intended to transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

She was 83 years old, and was once married to Tan Sri Mohammad Noah Omar as his second wife. Noah, who passed away in 1990, was Najib's grandfather.

"She was a very, very nice lady. A kind-hearted, beautiful woman. She was a homemaker who looked after my grandfather very well. We called her 'ibu' (mother)," family spokeswoman Datin Dr Faridah Abdullah told The Star over the phone on Friday.

Dr Faridah, who is also the chairman of the Mohammad Noah Foundation, said Siti had travelled to Amsterdam to holiday with her only daughter from her first marriage.

She added that Siti’s daughter, who could not be named at this point, was supposed to have followed her mother on her way back but couldn't get on the same flight as her.

Dr Faridah said that Siti – a native Indonesian – and her daughter were planning to spend Hari Raya Aidilfitri in Jogjakarta.

"She had her own family in Amsterdam, and would go there and come back off-and-on. She visited Malaysia very regularly and loved Malaysia," said Dr Faridah.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 2:05:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 6:08:40 PM

MH17 crash: Shell Malaysia employees were on board ill-fated flight

by patrick lee

PETALING JAYA: An undisclosed number of Shell Malaysia employees were on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which crashed in Ukraine on Thursday.

A company spokesman confirmed that company employees were on board the aircraft which was enroute to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.

"After a review of traveler records and airline manifests, we now have confirmation from authorities and family members that Shell staff were aboard Malaysian Airlines flight 17," the spokesman said on Friday.

The spokesman added that Shell Malaysia was still working on a definitive list of employees and was unable to provide further information at the time.

Saddened by the loss of its employees, the company said it was rendering its support to the families of those who perished.

Flight MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine at around 1415 GMT, hours after the Boeing 777, bound for Kuala Lumpur, had taken off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

It is believed to have been accidentally shot down 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.

All 298 passengers on board are believed to have perished.

The area is currently being held by pro-Russian separatists.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 7:51:00 AM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 9:01:58 AM

MH17 crash: Stewardess told family to wait for her return, says father

by royce tan

Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh

GEORGE TOWN: It was Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh's childhood dream to become an air stewardess.

The 31-year-old Penangite was one of the crew members on board MH17 that crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border on Thursday.

Her family when met at their home in Persiaran Mayang Pasir here on Friday were sobbing uncontrollably.

Mohamed Salleh Shamsuddin, 54, said he last communicated with his daughter via WhatsApp some 24 hours before the ill-fated flight took off from Amsterdam.

"She asked me for a photo of my grandchild because she said she missed him.

"She also requested for a copy of me and my wife's MyKad," he said.

In tears, Mohamed Salleh added that Nur Shazana told him that she would return on the first day of Hari Raya and wanted them to wait for her before they visit the graves of departed relatives.

Nur Shazana's mother Sharom Ibrahim, 57, said her daughter was the eldest among four siblings and had been working in MAS for nine years.

Her family, however, is still clinging on to all the hopes they have.

Mohamed Salleh said they would not accept that Nur Shazana is dead until there is a confirmation by MAS and the Federal Government, and until they see her body.

Flight MH17 took off from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport shortly after noon Thursday and was supposed to land in Kuala Lumpur at about 6.10am local time on Friday.

Flight tracking data indicated that the plane was at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet when it disappeared.

The Boeing 777 is believed to have been shot down 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 6:41:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 6:44:22 PM

MH17 crash: MAS to send 40-member team to Amsterdam to help next-of-kin, says Liow

by tan yi liang

SEPANG: A team of 40 Malaysia Airlines staff will be flown to Amsterdam to support families of passengers of the downed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17, said Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.

Liow announced this at a press conference at the Sama-Sama Hotel here on Friday.

"Malaysia Airlines takes its responsibilities to the next-of-kin seriously," said Liow.

Out of the 298 passengers and crew on board, 173 of the passengers on board the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight are from the Netherlands.

MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine at around 1415 GMT on Thursday, hours after the Boeing 777, bound for Kuala Lumpur, had taken off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

It is believed to have been accidentally shot down 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.

All 298 passengers and crew on board, including 44 Malaysians, are believed to have perished.

He also gave details of the 62-person team being sent to Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine.

"30 are from the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, 15 are medical staff, while 10 are Royal Malaysia Air Force representatives, five are Malaysia Airlines staff and two are Department of Civil Aviation staff," said Liow.

 

[Lotto]

Published: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 10:29:00 AM
Updated: Friday July 18, 2014 MYT 12:52:54 PM

MH17 crash: East Ukraine a no-fly zone

BRUSSELS: Ukrainian authorities on Thursday declared the east of the country a no-fly zone after a Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people crashed in the volatile region, European flight safety body Eurocontrol said.

European and US airlines rerouted their flights as Kiev said the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 was shot down in a "terrorist" attack and a US official said intelligence analysts "strongly believe" it was downed by a surface-to-air missile.

"Since the crash, the Ukrainian authorities have informed Eurocontrol of the closure of routes from the ground to unlimited (altitude) in Eastern Ukraine," a statement said.

"All flight plans that are filed using these routes are now being rejected by Eurocontrol. The routes will remain closed until further notice," it added.

According to Eurocontrol's information, the doomed plane was flying at a level known as "330", or approximately 10,000 metres or 33,000 feet, when it disappeared from radar screens.

The route itself had been closed to level "320" but was cleared for those flying at MH17's altitude.

In Paris, a statement by junior transport minister Frederic Cuvillier said French carriers should "avoid Ukraine's air space as long as the reasons behind this catastrophe are not known".

The Boeing 777 dropped off the radar at around 1415 GMT (10.15pm Malaysian time) and crashed in a border region held by pro-Russian separatists.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pointedly called the disaster a "terrorist act", and major airlines quickly announced plans to route planes away from the area.

Air France said it decided "to no longer fly over eastern Ukraine as soon as it heard of the event", and Alitalia had done the same.

A spokesman for German flag carrier Lufthansa told AFP it also chose to immediately make a "wide detour" around the region because "our passenger's safety is our top priority".

Lufthansa's subsidiary Swiss took similar action, and reported that "one flight between Bangkok and Zurich was affected, the flight was rerouted".

In London, a British Department for Transport spokesman confirmed that "flights already airborne are being routed around the area by air traffic control in the region". US carrier Delta was one of the first non-European carriers to say it too was steering clear "out of an abundance of caution". "The thoughts and prayers of the entire Delta Air Lines family are with the passengers and crew, and their loved ones, involved in the Malaysia Airlines incident," a statement added.

British Airways was already avoiding Ukrainian airspace, with the exception of one flight a day to the capital Kiev, which is well to the west of the crash zone.

In April, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared the troubled Crimean peninsula, south-west of the crash site, a virtual no-fly zone for US airlines and pilots.

A similar no-fly order for European airlines was issued at the time by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, the official name of Eurocontrol. – AFP

 

[Lotto]

The tragic victims of Flight MH17: First pictures of passengers who perished on plane blown out of the sky above Ukraine - including a British UN worker, a brilliant AIDS doctor and a Catholic nun

• Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over territory held by Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine
• Body parts and wreckage from flight, headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, spread over nine-mile area
• Nine Britons and 173 Dutch have been confirmed dead, along with 27 Australians and 44 Malaysians
  
• Three Australian children - Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin, aged between eight and 12 - were among those killed
  
• Glenn Thomas, 49, a World Health Organisation press officer originally from Blackpool also died
• Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, were named, along with Leeds University student Richard Mayne
  
• As many as 100 of the victims are thought to have been AIDS experts on their way to a conference in Melbourne
  

By Kieran Corcoran and Michael Seamark and Darren Boyle and Sarah Michael
Published: 07:42 GMT, 18 July 2014 | Updated: 11:51 GMT, 18 July 2014

As many as 100 AIDS experts on their way to an international conference, a Catholic nun from Australia, two Newcastle United football fans - and 80 children were among the 298 victims killed when a passenger jet was shot out of the sky at 32,000ft by a surface-to-air missile yesterday.

Today identities of the passengers - all of whom are thought to have died - have begun to emerge. The victims include nine Britons, 173 Dutch and 27 Australians.

The Boeing 777 aircraft was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile over territory near Donetsk held by pro-Russian rebels who the Ukrainian government says are backed by the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine for the attack.

The plane was shot down in an 'act of terrorism', killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, including three Australian children, aged between eight and 12, who were travelling with their grandfather.

Child victims: Three grandchildren, Mo Maslin, 12, (left), his brother Otis, eight, (centre) and sister Evie Maslin, 10, (right) were killed on the flight along with their grandfather Nick Morris

The tragedy has sparked outrage across the globe, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk leading calls on world powers to support his government in bringing to justice 'those b****** who committed this international crime' after a passenger plane was shot down over his country.

Security forces from Ukraine claim to have intercepted two phone conversations in which in which pro-Russian separatists seem to celebrate hitting the plane. In the wake of the aviation disaster tributes have poured in for the victims, who include families and renowned researchers.

​

Nick Norris, from Perth, Australia, was flying on the service with his grandchildren Mo, 12, Evie, 10, and Otis Maslin, eight, when it was shot down at around 16.00 BST yesterday.

Mr Norris’s son Brack, 24, paid tribute to his father, niece and nephews. ‘I’m a bit dizzy right now,’ he told MailOnline in Australia.

The family had been on holiday and the children’s parents had remained in Amsterdam for a few extra days, but Mr Norris took his grandchildren on MH17 to get them back to Australia in time for school, Australian broadcasters reported.

Mr Norris, the managing director of management consulting firm Collaborative Systemic Change Pty Ltd, is survived by his son Brack, who is the company's marketing manager, and daughter Kirstin, a marine engineer with the Royal Australian Navy. He was a well-known member of the South Perth Yacht Club.

The identities of British victims also emerged today, including two Newcastle United fans on their way to see the club play in New Zealand, and a student from Leeds University.

Glenn Thomas, a 49-year-old UN worker from Blackpool, was on board the flight. Mr Thomas was a media relations co-ordinator for the World Health Organisation, an agency of the United Nations agency, and had previously worked as a journalist for the BBC.

Victim: Briton Glenn Thomas, 49, was among the 298 killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was blasted out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile

International: Mr Thomas (circled) is pictured above at a press conference delivered by the World Health Organisation - an agency of the United Nations - and is surrounded by high-ranking experts from the body

Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that 173 Dutch, 44 Malaysian (including 15 crew and two infants), 12 Indonesian, nine British, four German, three Filipino, and one Canadian citizen were also on the plane.
Mr Thomas grew up in Blackpool and worked as a journalist in the Lancashire seaside resort in the early 1990s, where his twin sister Tracey Withers still lives.

NATIONALITIES OF THE MH17 VICTIMS

Netherlands: 173

Malaysia: 44

Australia: 27

Indonesia: 12

UK: 9

Germany: 4

Belgium: 4

Philippines: 3

Canada: 1

New Zealand: 1

Unverified: 20

The Blackpool Gazette reported that he moved to Geneva, Switzerland, a decade ago to start working for the WHO. He was said to have posted a status update shortly before starting his journey, which was supposed to end in Melbourne.

He caught a place from Geneva to Amsterdam, and boarded the doomed service from the Dutch capital to Kuala Lumpur, where he would have boarded a connecting flight.

Mr Thomas lived in Geneva with his partner who lived in Geneva with his partner Claudio-Manoel Villaça-Vanetta, but is said to have kept up his ties to Blackpool.

Today one of his nephews said the family was 'totally torn up' by his death. The relative, a son of Mr Thomas's sister Tracey and her husband Mark, said his parents were on holiday in Spain when they heard the news.

He said: 'She is on her way home; she is totally torn up. Like any twins they are very close-one of them feels everything the other does.She must have known in her mind something terrible was going on.'

The siblings were together only a week ago at the funeral of their father Raymond, which was held in Blackpool.

Tributes were paid to Mr Thomas today, whom colleagues described as 'a wonderful personal and a great professional'.

WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib said: ‘I can confirm he was on the flight travelling to Australia to attend the Aids conference in Australia.

‘For the time being we would like to give his family time to grieve. We have lost a wonderful person and a great professional. Our hearts are broken. We are all in shock.’

BBC TV news editor Rachel Kennedy wrote: ‘Horrified to discover lovely Glenn Thomas on MH17. Always a smiling face, will be hugely missed.’

Steve Mannion, 50, a close friend, described Mr Thomas as an 'incredibly warm' man. He said: 'I met Glenn when I was in my 20s at the Galleon Bar in Blackpool and he was a very pleasant guy.

'We just got chatting as you do with a few drinks and I could tell straight away that he was a genuinely nice guy. We've been fantastic friends ever since and despite living in Geneva, he's always kept his Blackpool roots.'

A Leeds university student has also been named as one of the British nationals who died when flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine. Richard Mayne, 20, was originally from Leicester where he lived with his mother Elizabeth, 53, and father Simon, 53.

He also leaves behind his brothers Thomas, 24, and William, 19, and sister Scarlett, who lives in Hampshire. Mr Maybe was thought to be studying maths and finance at the university.

Paying tribute to him on her Twitter account, yesterday Miss Mayne said: 'Thank you for all the condolences. I will never understand why our beautiful Richard was taken from us. He will remain forever loved #MH17'

Student: Richard Mayne, 20, was another of the British victims, who studied maths and finance at Leeds University

Traveller: Mr Mayne was on his way to spend a year in Australia, friends said, and had been at a celebratory barbecue days before where he was wished good luck

Today fears emerged that two Newcastle United fans were among the Britons killed. A fan site for the football club posted that two people were aboard MH17 on their way to New Zealand, where the team is playing in a pre-season tour.

One of the men is thought to be fan John Alder, who was in his 60s. The loyal supporter is known to other fans as The Undertaker because of his tradition of wearing a suit to every game.

He is thought only to have missed a single match since he started attending in 1973, and follows the team around the world for their away games.

It is believed John was travelling to the game with another 28-year-old fan, believed to be Liam Sweeney, from Newcastle.

Before the flight John had made his way from Amsterdam, then boarded the flight destined for Kuala Lumpur.

Tributes have started to pour in for the former BT worker, who was also known for his mullet-style haircut.

Newcastle Fans: John Alder, pictured left at a Newcastle game, and Liam Sweeney, right, were football supporters who were travelling to watch Newcastle United play in New Zealand when MH17 was shot out of the skies

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew said today that his players were 'deeply shocked and saddened' at the deaths of two such 'dedicated' fans.

The club said both men were familiar faces at every United away game and attended reserve and academy matches as well as first-team games.

The airline has now said that all European flights operated by Malaysia Airlines will now be taking alternative routes, avoiding the usual route over Ukraine.

A real estate agent, from Victoria, Australia, his wife, a Perth management consultant, a Melbourne university student and a Sydney Catholic nun are among the Australian dead on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down on the Russian-Ukraine border.

A Catholic nun from Sydney was also on board the flight. Sister Philomena, a teacher at girls' high school Kincoppal-Rose Bay, was the relative of school students at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in North Sydney.

It has been confirmed that Malaysian student Elaine Teoh, who had been studying at Melbourne University, was also on the flight, Channel Nine reported.

Recently retired pathologist Roger Guard and his wife Jill from Toowoomba in Queensland, have also been identified from the MH17 flight.

Victims: Melbourne student Elaine Teoh

Perth man Nick Norris

Real estate agent Albert Rizk

Mr Rizk's wife Marie

It has also been confirmed that NSW resident Sister Philomene Tiernan (centre), a teacher at eastern Sydney's Catholic girls' school in Kincoppal-Rose Bay, was also on the plane

Recently retired pathologist Roger Guard (left) and his wife Jill (right) from Toowoomba in Queensland, have also been identified from the MH17 flight

Scientist: Leading HIV researcher Joep Lange (pictured) died in the MH17 crash

Conference: Pim de Kuijer, another AIDS researcher, was on his way to the Melbourne conference

Victim: Martine de Schutter, pictured, was another one of the delegation

Tawoomba's Mayor Paul Antonio said the entire Darling Down’s community would be shaken by the tragic news, reported the Brisbane Times.

Dr Guard was well regarded in the medical community, acting as the director within the Pathology Queensland laboratory in Toowoomba Hospital. He also helped perform autopsies on the victims of the Queensland flood and was well known for organising local marathon events in his local community for the Toowoomba Road Runner fitness group.

A Victorian couple Frankie Davison and her husband Liam were on MH17. Mrs Davison was a teacher at Toorak College Community, south-east of Melbourne.

'Toorak College Community is saddened by the loss of much loved teacher Frankie Davison and her husband Liam who were on the Malaysia Airlines flight that was brought down over Ukraine, this morning,' said a statement on the college Facebook page.

'Our hearts and sympathy goes out to their children Milly and Sam, and family. We are devastated by the news of this tragedy.'

Victorian real estate agent, Albert Rizk, and his wife Marie also died in the crash.

They had been in Europe on holidays for several weeks. They had been travelling with family friends who took an earlier flight and were waiting for the Rizks to arrive home in Sunbury, Victoria, where they were high-profile members of a tight-knit community.

Mr Rizk was a director of Raine & Horne in Sunbury.

President of the Sunbury Football Club Phil Lithgow said Mr Rizk was a sponsor of the AFL club as well as an enthusiastic community worker and his wife worked in the club canteen.
The couple's son James, who is also a real estate agent, plays football for the Sunbury club.

'He is a very good footballer and Albert and Marie were just lovely people,' Mr Lithgow told Daily Mail Australia.

'It is a shock to us all, Albert was just such a community person in the area.'

Pilot: Eugene Choo Jin Leong was flying MH17 when it was shot down. Malaysia Airlines has described him as one of their most trusted pilots

Victims from around the world: Regis Crolla, left, was one of the 173 Dutch nationals on board the flight out of Amsterdam, while stewardess Azrina Yakob, right, was thought to have been working on board the flight

A spokesman for The University of Melbourne released a statement saying they were 'saddened' to hear reports about one of their students.

'Ms Teoh graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2008,' the spokesman said.

'Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.'

The spokesman added that the university was distressed to learn that HIV and AIDS researchers were on the flight.

'This is a terrible loss to the global research community at a time when we were getting ready to welcome them to the World AIDS Conference in Melbourne to share the latest advances in the field,' the spokesman said.

'The impact of this devastating loss will no doubt be felt among the global research community for years to come.'

There are unconfirmed reports that two Shell company employees may have been aboard MH17 returning from a trip to Shell's Amsterdam head office.

'We are aware of the incident involving the Malaysia Airlines plane and we’re checking to see if any colleagues were on board,' a Shell Australia spokesman said.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine confirmed MH17 was to connect with MH129 arriving in Melbourne this evening.

'It is with deep regret that I can now confirm nine Australian nationals from Victoria are among those who have been killed in the MH17 tragedy,' he said.

'This is a sad and tragic day, not just for Victorians, but for all people and all nations. The shooting down of a passenger aircraft full of innocent civilians is an unspeakable act that will forever leave a dark stain on our history.'

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says it is believed nine people on board were Queenslanders. Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett said seven people from WA had been on board. A spokeswoman for the ACT Chief Minister confirmed one Canberran was on the flight.

Mourners have laid flowers at the doorstep of the embassy to pay respect to victims

Passengers board their Malaysia Airlines flight at Bangkok airport as it prepares to depart f Kuala Lumpur early on July 18

Relics in the rubble: Passports of victims, such as this one which appears to show a Dutch teenager, were found in the crash site wreckage

Dutch officials have confirmed 27 Australians were on board, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warned that number could climb higher because the nationalities of all those on board are not yet known.

UKRAINE AND RUSSIA BLAME EACH OTHER FOR THE ATTACK

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine for the tragedy that claimed the lives of all 298 people on board, including around 100 children - but didn't deny Russian-backed separatists were to blame for shooting it out of the sky.

Ukrainian authorities laid the blame for the attack on the rebels by denying any responsibility for the missile launch, with President Petro Poroshenko called the downing an act of terrorism as he called for an international investigation into the crash.

TV pictures from the scene showed a pall of smoke billowing into the sky near Donetsk, apparently from the stricken flight MH17.

Witnesses say body parts are scattered over a distance of 15km, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air.

Laying the blame: The Ukrainian authorities laid the blame for the attack on the rebels by denying any responsibility for the missile launch, with President Petro Poroshenko called the downing an act of terrorism

No survivors: Witnesses say body parts are scattered over a distance of 15km, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air

AUSTRALIA-BOUND MALAYSIA AIRLINES PASSENGERS BREAK DOWN IN TEARS

Malaysia Airlines passengers landing at Sydney Airport from Kuala Lumpur this morning have told of passengers bursting into tears when they learned the fate of those on board flight MH17, while others said they would be cancelling future flights with the airline.

The 10am flight MH17 may well have had passengers on board the doomed MH17 if it had not been shot down by terrorists in the Ukraine.

Olivia Pasternak, and friend Lucy Larkin, both 20, had flown home to Sydney from the Malaysian capital after a holiday in Vietnam.

They were seated next to a pair of Dutch travellers who burst into tears when they learned of the 172 fellow nationals who perished in the crash.

They were still on the plane when they heard the news.

'It was so sad,' Ms Pasternak said.

'We were on the Tarmac for so long we checked our phones and started reading it all online.'

A firefighter stands as flames burst amongst the wreckages of MH17 after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine

Discarded: Luggage from the plane is piled up at the crash site by rescue workers performing recovery work in east Ukraine

Search: The Foreign Office is in talks with consular teams in Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to obtain passenger lists to establish how many UK nationals were on board the plane

On Monday, Eurocontrol – the body that coordinates all traffic across European airspace – sent out an official note to airmen, known as a Notam, repeating the warning and saying it 'strongly advises' avoiding the airspace.

But many carriers continued to use the route because it was shorter and therefore cheaper.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama were speaking by telephone in a pre-arranged call when news of the tragedy began to emerge.

Flight MH17 had taken off from Amsterdam at lunchtime and was flying at around 33,000ft on one of the main routes from Europe to Asia when it was struck by the missile. It came down near a poultry farm in the village of Grabovo, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels about 30 miles from the Ukraine-Russia border.

Witnesses claimed to have seen bodies falling out of the stricken plane over the village of Rassypnaya. Some residents feared they were being bombed.

Aleks Noit, whose relatives live nearby, said more than a dozen corpses, some naked, were strewn around the village.

'Wreckage and bodies fell on the private houses in the village and near the hospital. People in uniform collected the corpses,' he said.

Others described an entire field covered in debris from the plane and body parts scattered across an area up to nine miles in diameter, suggesting the plane broke up in mid-air.

BRITAIN CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO CAUSE OF CRASH

Schiphol Airport boss Jos Nijhuis confirmed at a press conference in Amsterdam that there had been six British people on board.

The new British Foreign secretary Philip Hammond said tonight he believes there were British nationals among those on board the plane but does not have detailed information as to the exact number, or what had caused the plane to crash.

Speaking at the Foreign Office following emergency talks with ministers and officials, he called for an international investigation led by the United Nations to establish exactly what happened to the aircraft.

'I'm deeply shocked by this appalling incident and I send my heartfelt condolences to all those who may have lost family and friends. We're determined to get to the bottom of understanding what has happened here,' he said.

'As yet we do not have any definitive information about how this incident occurred and I don't want to speculate at this stage. We believe that there must be a UN-led international investigation of the facts.'

He said that Britain was prepared to make Air Accident Investigation Branch assets and specialists available to assist such an investigation.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'I'm shocked and saddened by the Malaysia air disaster. Officials from across Whitehall are meeting to establish the facts.'

He has summoned officials from across Whitehall for urgent talks at 7pm to discuss the latest on the crash, and what is known about any British casualties.

A Whitehall source said that this evening's meeting was involving Government officials, rather than ministers, and was focused on establishing what needs to be done for any British citizens caught up in the incident.

Britain has also requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, the Foreign Office said.

The Foreign Office is also in talks with consular teams in Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to obtain passenger lists to establish how many UK nationals were on board.

‘We are aware of the reports and are urgently working to establish what has happened,’ a Foreign Office spokesman said.

Asked about reports that up to 10 British people had been on board, the spokesman added: ‘Our first priority is to establish if there are any British persons on board but we are not in a position to go beyond that line.’

Insignia: The red and blue stripes which decorate the Malaysia Airlines fleet can be seen in this broken piece of the plane's exterior, as can a Malaysian flag

In pieces:Part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane lies in an otherwise deserted cornfield

Fear: A relative of one suspected victim walks arrives at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam tonight

Loss: A relative struggles to contain his emotion as family members of the victims are taken away from Schiphol airport in a special bus tonight

Torment: Worried relatives are driven away from Schiphol airport by bus tonight

Overcome: A female relative of one passenger weeps as she tells reporters in Kuala Lumpur she believe a relative of hers was on Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17

Tearful: The woman reacts to news regarding the tragic plane crash in eastern Ukraine

Schedule: A board in the arrivals hall of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang still displays Malaysia Airlines MH017

Confusion: Members of the public take photographs of the arrival board as it displays the MH17 flight information

Grief: A family member cries as she receives the news of the ill-fated flight MH17 during a phone call at Kuala Lumpur airport

Worry: A relative of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam speaks on the phone as he waits for information outside the family holding area at the airport in Kuala Lumpur

Anxious: Family members of the victims are gathering at Schiphol airport's dakotabar to wait for news of their loved ones

 

[Lotto]

How flight MH17 was obliterated in just 12 seconds: BUK missile system carrying 150lbs of explosives fired at doomed Malaysian flight with 95% accuracy

• BUK launcher takes five minutes to warm up and 12 minutes to reload
  
• Missile was likely detonated within 65ft (20 metres) of the MH17 target
• This caused critical damage to the aircraft engines and control system
• The huge explosion would have ignited the fuel on board the aircraft
• BUK missiles can take down a plane up to an altitude of 75,000 feet
• The missile systems were developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s

By Ellie Zolfagharifard and Jonathan O'Callaghan
Published: 09:39 GMT, 18 July 2014 | Updated: 11:55 GMT, 18 July 2014

With deadly precision, a Soviet-built BUK missile launcher yesterday brought down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 carrying 295 passengers.

The surface-to-air missile hit the Boeing 777 with such force that residents in the area claim to have seen bodies falling from the sky ‘like rags’.

While it has not been confirmed who is responsible, details are now emerging of exactly how this lethal weapon was able to hunt down and destroy the passenger aircraft.

The BUK missile system, also known as the SA-11 Gadfly, was created by the Soviet Union in 1979 to engage aircraft, cruise missiles and drones.

BUK - which means 'beech tree' in Russian - includes four missiles on a turntable mounted on a tracked vehicle. A separate tracked vehicle carries early radars to guide the missiles.

Capable of carrying 154lbs (70kg) of highly-explosive warheads, BUK can send missiles up to an altitude of 75,000ft (23,000 metres).

It takes just five minutes to warm up, 12 minutes to reload and 8-12 seconds to reach its target. Once there, it has a kill probability of 90 to 95 per cent.

Yesterday's missile is likely to have detonated within 65 feet (20 metres) of MH17, causing critical damage to the engines and control system of the aircraft. The explosion would have ignited the fuel onboard the aircraft, causing destruction of the wing and fuselage

The surface-to-air missile hit the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 with such force that residents claim to have seen bodies falling from the sky 'like rags'

<center>

​

</center>
HOW WAS THE MISSILE LAUNCHED AND HOW DID IT BRING DOWN FLIGHT MH17?

MH17 was believed to have been taken down by a missile known as the Mach 3 semi-active homing 9M28M1.

It was thought to have been launched from one of the BUK family of missile launchers.

The surface-to-air missile has a range of 1.8 to 12.4 miles (three to 20km) and can hit targets up to an altitude of 75,000ft (23,000 metres).

A typical missile battery to launch the the missile consists of a command vehicle housing computers and displays, a target-acquisition radar and one or more self-propelled launchers each carrying up to four missiles.

Once a target has been selected it takes five minutes for a missile to warm up and 12 minutes to reload after launching.

Depending on the model the missile would then accelerate to at least 2,790ft (850 metres) per second to up to 4,035ft (1,230 metres) per second.

This means it would have reached MH17, 33,000ft (10,000 metres) high, eight to 12 seconds after being fired.

It detonates within 65ft (20 metres) of its target, which causes critical damage to the engines and control system of the aircraft.

The missile acquires its target using radar in a ‘seeker’ in its tip. It tracks its target autonomously after being fired.

Yesterday's missile is likely to have detonated within 65 feet (20 metres) of MH17, causing critical damage to the engines and control system of the aircraft. The explosion would have ignited the fuel onboard the aircraft, causing destruction of the wing and fuselage. ‘Inside the missile is a variety of different warheads,’ a senior defence source told MailOnline.

‘These can be fragmentation or incendiary, depending on the target you are flying at.

‘They can cut an aircraft in half, set it on fire or provide large pieces of shrapnel that shred it apart.’

The missile - thought to be the Mach 3 semi-active homing 9M28M - was launched from the back of what is essentially a truck and has a range of 1.8 to 12.4 miles (3 to 20km).

A 13.8-inch (35cm) ‘seeker’ on the missile would have received information on the trajectory of the passenger aircraft from a radar station on a separate vehicle.

A typical battery to launch the missile is made up of command vehicle housing computers and displays.

The system used to determine whether a target is a friend or foe would not warn an operator that the target was an airliner - only that it was not a friend.

‘Aircraft don’t fly along doing nothing, they talk to people, they communicate via radio, they transmit signals,' the defence source said.

‘If you are linked in to a national or standing air traffic system you’ll know what aircraft are flying around you.

‘If this was what people are saying it is, then it wasn’t linked into that system or they just ignored all of that information available.

'Once the radar on the system has found an aircraft it guides the missile to it. Why did it not know it was a civilian airliner? It sounds like someone has made a mistake.'

The image appears to show a BUK missile system cruising the streets of Torez, eastern Ukraine just hours before Malaysia Airline's flight MH17 was blown out of the sky

BUK missile launchers are capable of taking down aircraft the size of a Boeing 777 flying at a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, meaning the impact is likely to have blown the plane apart in the sky

THE MISSILE SYSTEM: KEY FIGURES

Range: The missile believed has a range of 1.8 to 12.4 miles (three to 20km), making it a medium-range weapon.

Warheads: It carries a high-explosive warhead that weighs 70kg (150lbs).

Weight: The missiles themselves weigh between 685 and 715 kilograms (1,510 to 1,575 pounds).

Radar system: It is directed towards its target by radar after being fired and is self-propelled.

A 13.8-inch (35cm ) ‘seeker’ on the missile receives information on the trajectory or a moving target from a radar station on the ground, allowing it to navigate towards the target.

Dimensions: They are 18.2ft (5.55 metres) in length, with a wing-span of 34 inches (86cm).

Combat readiness: Five minutes

Kill probability: 90-95 per cent

The source confirmed that firing the missile was ‘as simple as pressing a button.’

‘The height and direction is computed within the command system to work out a collision point,' he said.

Older models of the missile fly at 2,790ft (850 metres) per second; newer models at 4,035ft (1,230 metres) per second.

At that speed, the missile would have impacted the plane between 8 and 12 seconds after it was launched, depending on the model.

The system has remained widely in use throughout the former Soviet states, including Ukraine.

As well as the BUK, Nick de Larrinaga, an analyst at IHS Jane's Defence, said the commercial aircraft would also be in the range of the Russian-made S-300.

Reports suggest the BUK used to shoot to have either been supplied by Russia or seized by pro-Russian rebel forces from a captured Ukrainian set.

Until then it was assumed the only surface-to-air missiles in rebel hands were shoulder-held launchers with a maximum engagement range of 10,000 feet.

They are capable of taking down aircraft the size of a Boeing 777 flying at a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, meaning the intensity of the impact is likely to have blown the plane apart in the sky.

Witnesses says wreckage and body parts of the passengers and crew are scattered over an area of around nine miles, reinforcing the idea that the plane broke up mid-air.

As reported by the group 'onformation Resistance', yesterday a convoy was seen with three tanks, two armored personnel carriers, truck with militants and a truck with a heavy machine gun. And also - car truck with gun carriage, which transported air defenvre system BUK

Down: Smoke billows into the sky after a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot out of the sky at 33,000ft over eastern Ukraine, killing all 295 people on board

In a statement Donetsk separatist leader Andrei Purgin said that he was certain that Ukrainian troops had shot it down but gave no explanation for that statement.

Purgin said he was not aware of whether rebel forces owned BUK missile launchers, but even if they did, there had no fighters capable of operating it.

The Ukrainian authorities have laid the blame for the attack on the rebels by denying any responsibility for the missile launch.

Flight MH17, which was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew, was flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur after taking off at lunchtime yesterday.

Pictured is the Buk M2 missile system at a military show at the international forum 'Technologies in machine building 2010' in Zhukovsky, Russia, outside Moscow. There are several models of Buk Missile Systems used by multiple countries, including both the Russian and Ukrainian government military

A typical battery to launch the missile is made up of command vehicle housing computers and displays. Pictured is the reload vehicle for the Buk launch system

Television pictures from the scene showed a pall of smoke billowing into the sky near Donetsk, apparently from the stricken aircraft.

Earlier, pro-Russia rebels claimed responsibility for surface-to-air missile on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets yesterday.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile - not a BUK - adding that the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely.

Pro-Russian separatists have since added that they have no such weapon and only have shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles fired from a MANPAD (man-portable air defence system).

These can only reach up to 4000 metres. However, separatists had previously boasted of a Buk capture on Twitter.

Justin Bronk, with the Royal United Services Institute, believes that if a BUK SA-11 system was used, he is 'almost certain' it was supplied by Russia.

'My personal hunch is that given the military setbacks that the separatists have suffered of late, and the Ukrainian military's increasingly confident use of airpower, Russian authorities decided to send a few SA-11 systems across into the Donetsk area,' he said.

'However, I also highly suspect that the separatists did not intend to shoot down an airliner, but probably thought they were targeting a Ukrainian transport at high altitude.'

BUK MISSILE SYSTEM Q&A

What is this missile launcher?

The BUK surface-to-air missile system believed to have shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 is an old Soviet-built weapon designed to engage aircraft, cruise missiles and drones that is still widely used in eastern European states, including Ukraine.

How did it have destroy MH17?

BUK missile systems have large self-propelled launchers that use radar to engage aircraft or missiles up to an altitude of 75,000ft (23,000 metres). They are capable of taking down aircraft the size of a Boeing 777 flying at a cruising altitude of 33,000ft (10,000 metres), with the intensity of the missile explosion likely to have blown the plane apart in the sky.

Who uses the BUK?

The BUK, developed by the Soviet Union in 1979, has remained widely in use throughout the former Soviet states, including Ukraine.

Which missile was used?

The missile that took down MH17 is believed to have been Mach 3 semi-active homing 9M28M1 medium-range missile. It carries a high-explosive warhead that weighs 70kg (150 pounds), while the missiles themselves weigh between 685 and 715kg (1,510 to 1,575lbs).

Does the missile hit its target directly?

It detonates within 65ft (20 metres) of its target, which causes critical damage to the engines and control system of the aircraft. The explosion will in turn ignite the fuel on the aircraft, causing destruction of the wing and fuselage of the plane.

How is the missile launched?

A typical missile battery to launch the missile consists of a command vehicle housing computers and displays, a target-acquisition radar, and one or more self-propelled launchers each carrying up to four missiles. A battery can simultaneously engage up to six targets flying on different bearings and at different altitudes and ranges. Once a target is selected it takes five minutes for the missile to ‘warm up’.

How does missile track its target?

Its radar is normally used to track targets, but can be operated in target detection mode to autonomously engage targets present in the radar's field of view. The system used to determine whether a target is a friend or foe would not warn an operator that the target was an airliner - only that it was not a friend.

What is the success rate of such a missile?

The SA-11 BUK has a 90-95 per cent success rating when attacking a non-maneuvering aircraft.

 

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

Hong Kong man was on board downed flight MH17, government says

Fan Shun-po, a cook working in the Netherlands, was travelling with his Malaysian wife, Jenny Loh, according to a Dutch newspaper

PUBLISHED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 12:02pm
UPDATED : Friday, 18 July, 2014, 5:06pm

Stuart Lau [email protected]

A man looks at information screens at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong's Immigration Department has confirmed that at least one Hong Kong resident was on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed after being shot down over eastern Ukraine yesterday, apparently with no survivors.

A Dutch newspaper later identified the man as Fan Shun-po, a cook at an Asian restaurant in Rotterdam. Fan is believed to have been travelling with his wife Jenny Loh, the owner of the restaurant.

“We are very worried,” an unnamed restaurant employee was quoted as saying in Metro, the Dutch newspaper. “Our boss and the head chef were on that plane.”

The Hongkonger and his Malaysian wife seen in a Dutch cooking show.

An Immigration Department statement earlier on Friday said: "After preliminary verification of the passenger lists the Immigration Department found that one Hong Kong resident and his or her relative who held an overseas passport took the flight involved in the accident. We have immediately contacted their relatives ... and will offer any possible assistance."

The department said it was continuing to verify if any other local residents were on the downed flight.

The plane, believed to have 298 people on board including crew members, was hit by a missile and crashed, according to multiple sources including the Ukraine government and United States authorities. There are presumed to be no survivors.

The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists are trading accusations over who shot down the Malaysian airliner. Suspicion has fallen on pro-Moscow rebels in the divided eastern Ukraine – branded “terrorists” by the government in Kiev – who are in control of large areas of the region.

The plane was due to travel from Amsterdam on an overnight flight to Kuala Lumpur and was expected in the Malaysian capital at about 6am today.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed on Friday afternoon that 173 Dutch, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one New Zealander were on board. The identities of 20 passengers have yet to be verified, the airline said, adding that it does not think anyone survived the crash.

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department on Friday said airlines based in the city do not use flight routes that pass through Ukrainian airspace, where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down yesterday.

Local airline Cathay Pacific Airways confirmed that none of its flights had recently passed through the stretch of airspace over eastern Ukraine where the flight was shot down.

Cathay said its flights would continue to operate along routes that avoid the airspace where the plane was shot down.

Pilots based in Hong Kong say the route was used more by Singaporean and Malaysian airlines than those from Hong Kong and the mainland, which usually operate along routes further to the north.

The Airport Authority of Hong Kong said on Friday that it had received no reports of delays or cancellations arising from the re-routing of flights away from eastern Ukraine.

A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that all Cathay Pacific flights do not fly over the concerned airspace.

“We are closely monitoring developments. It would not be appropriate for us to comment or speculate at this stage,” the airline added.

A Hong Kong-based pilot said most Europe-bound flights from Hong Kong use a route further north of where MH17 was shot down.

“Most flights to, for example, Amsterdam use the route that passes through Finland and Mongolia,” said the pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It is the second tragedy to strike a Malaysia Airlines plane in less than six months. Flight MH370 disappeared in March while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

It has not been found, but the search has been concentrated in the Indian Ocean far west of Australia.

 

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17

Updates are in real time

 

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

Video emerges claiming to show final moments inside the cabin of MH17 before it took off on doomed flight

• Md Ali Md Salim, 30, reportedly posted footage from on board the plane
• His brother said the psychologist was flying home from Amsterdam
• The 13 second video shows passengers preparing for take off

By Sarah Dean
Published: 12:18 GMT, 18 July 2014 | Updated: 12:52 GMT, 18 July 2014

The final moments before Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 took off from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Thursday were captured on video by a Malaysian passenger, it has been claimed.

Md Ali Md Salim, 30, reportedly posted footage of the plane's routine pre-departure process on Instagram on July 17 before the plane crashed near the Russian-Ukraine border.
Md Ali was reportedly studying at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, for his doctorate of philosophy and he was travelling back to his home country of Malaysia to see his family for a holiday.

Scroll down for video

A video of passengers reportedly packing their belongings into the overhead compartments on flight MH17 has emerged on Instagram

Final moments before take-off inside doomed flight MH17

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6MRqR2Z0veo?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Flight MH17 took off from Amsterdam at lunchtime and was flying at around 33,000ft on one of the main routes from Europe to Asia when it was struck by a missile.

Md Ali's Instagram page is private but it is believed the video - allegedly showing passengers before MH17 took off - was shared by a friend and it has now been widely shared on YouTube and Facebook.

'Bismillah... #hatiadasikitgentar (In the name of God... feeling a little bit nervous)', the caption reportedly said.

The Instagram profile says the user, @MASA1777, is a clinical psychologist.

In the video a male passenger, wearing a black t-shirt and beige pants, is seen lifting his blue and white backpack into the overhead compartment.

The backs of the plane's purple and teal seats can be seen, while a man in a salmon pink t-shirt sits to the right of the camera and a woman sits in front of him.

The video shows routine checks being carried out before the flight took off

A Malaysia Airlines stewardess (far right) can be seen closing the overheard compartments

On the right, an air stewardess in the Malaysia Airlines patterned teal and purple uniform moves along the aisle closing the overhead compartments.

'We are in the final stages of our boarding and as we're loading please do ensure your phones are also off for the flight,' a member of the cabin crew can be heard saying.
Md Zaki Md Salim, MD Ali's older brother, told astroawani.com that his brother was one of the passengers on MH17.

'After receiving the news from my elder sister, I rushed to the airport here and MAS side confirmed my brother was one of the passengers of that flight,' he said at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 seen at the G3 gate of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, before it took off, heading to Kuala Lumpur, on July 17

Rescuers stand on the site of the crash of the Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine

MailOnline has contacted Malaysia Airlines to confirm if the video was taken on board flight MH17 but they have not responded. It has so far been impossible to verify the footage.

The plane came down near a poultry farm in the village of Grabovo, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels about 30 miles from the Ukraine-Russia border.

Witnesses claimed to have seen bodies falling out of the stricken plane over the village of Rassypnaya. Some residents feared they were being bombed.

 

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

'This baby's death is on your conscience, Putin - damn you for centuries': Ukrainian government releases horrific picture of infant lying in a field that it says was killed when rebels shot down MH17

• Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over territory held by Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine
  
• Body parts and wreckage from flight, headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, spread over nine-mile area
• Shocking photograph released by Ukrainian government adviser shows an infant victim lying on its own in a field
• Ukrainian official stepped up rhetorical attack on the Kremlin, accusing Putin of having the infant's blood on his hands
  
• Vladimir Putin said that it was the fault of the Ukrainian government for failing to reach a compromise with separatists
• Exchange fuelled fears that both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict are using the crash to further their own agendas
• Barack Obama accused Russia of supplying arms to the separatist rebels which blasted flight MH17 out of the sky
• International monitors could not gain access to the crash site after rebels fired into the air on their arrival
• Rebel commander blamed for downing MH17 said the 'bodies aren't fresh', claiming passengers died days before crash
  
• 10 Britons and 192 Dutch have been confirmed dead, along with 28 Australians, 44 Malaysians and one U.S. citizen
  

By Kieran Corcoran and Darren Boyle and Tom Mctague and Stephanie Linning
Published: 07:42 GMT, 18 July 2014 | Updated: 07:24 GMT, 19 July 2014

Ukraine has launched an extraordinary attack on Vladimir Putin by publishing a horrific picture of a dead baby and accusing the Russian president of having the blood of the infant victim of flight MH17 on his hands.

Senior government advisor Anton Gerashchenko yesterday stepped up the rhetorical attack on the Kremlin by posting the picture with a message to Mr Putin saying: 'This baby's death is on your conscience', before adding 'Damn you for centuries!'

He said that he agonised over whether to publish the image of the tiny corpse lying in a ploughed field. MailOnline has chosen not to publish the photograph because it is too upsetting.

The escalating rhetoric fuelled fears that both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict are using the crash to further their own agendas rather than as an opportunity to make peace.

In the West there is increasing concern that a full investigation is already being hampered by the Kremlin and that Ukraine's increasingly belligerent language will make it even more difficult to probe the missile attack which happened outside Donetsk on Thursday afternoon.

Vladimir Putin was earlier quoted as saying it is the fault of the Ukrainian government for failing to reach a compromise with the separatists. He said: 'This tragedy wouldn’t have occurred if there had been peace on this land and hostilities hadn’t been renewed in Ukraine’s southeast.

'And of course the government on whose territory this occurred is responsible for this terrible tragedy.'

But Mr Putin's remarks have not been echoed in Western capitals, with most leaders showing barely-concealed fury at Russia's aggression on its borders. Britain and the United States on Friday night laid the responsibility for the downing of the Malaysian passenger plane squarely at Russia's door.

Just hours after the harrowing image of the infant corpse emerged, Barack Obama accused Russia of supplying arms to the separatist rebels which blasted flight MH17 out of the sky over Ukraine - killing on 298 passengers on board.

The U.S. president's intervention came as Downing Street said that it appears 'increasingly likely that MH-17 was shot down by a separatist missile' fired from near Torez, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Earlier, David Cameron warned that those responsible for the missile attack would pay, as the number of Britons thought to have been killed increased to 10.

Stunned: Ukrainians inspect the wreckage of MH17 as coal miners, farmers and other volunteers help with the grisly task of clearing up the crash sites after the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over the east of the country

Decimated: A pro-Russian separatist looks at wreckage from the nose section of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane which was downed near the village of Rozsypne

Restricted access: Alexander Hug, deputy head of the OSCE mission, centre, gestures as he stands with mission representatives at the crash site of a Malaysian Airlines plane near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine

Poignant: A cuddly toy monkey belonging to a young victim of flight MH17 lies tattered and torn on the dirt

And in a dramatic ramping up of the rhetoric, the US ambassador to the United Nations even said that Russian troops may have fired the deadly Buk SA-11 missile.

Samantha Power said: ‘Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11 it is unlikely that the separatists could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel. We cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating this system.’

World leaders have called for a rapid investigation into the shooting down of the airliner, which could mark a pivotal moment in deteriorating relations between Russia and the West.

But monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were not able to secure enough access to the site when they arrived on Friday, the OSCE's permanent council chairman said.

Rebels who met the OSCE observers and experts when they arrived on the site fired into the air in an act of defiance.

Thomas Greminger, the council chairman, said: 'They did not have the kind of access that they expected. They did not have the freedom of movement that they need to do their job. The crash site is not sealed off...

'In the current circumstances, they were not able to help securing this corridor that would allow access for those that would want to investigate.'
He said a team of OSCE monitors had stayed at the crash site for about 75 minutes and then set off back to Donetsk, but would try again on Saturday.

The report comes after Ukraine premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk said pro-Moscow rebels are preventing emergency workers reaching the scene of the air crash. His allegation raises the fear that vital evidence could be tampered with.

Armed guard: Pro-Russian militants carrying guns walk towards cars carrying representatives of the OSCE. Rebels who met the international monitors fired into the air

Watched: Pro-Russian separatists stand by as representatives from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) arrive to take a look at the crash site. They were forced to leave 75 minutes later

Watchful eye: Representatives from the OSCE, dressed in bullet proof vests, said that they were not able to gain as much access to the site as they had hoped. They will return on Saturday to try again

Gathering information: Monitors from the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe's (OSCE) special monitoring mission to Ukraine stand on the site of the crash next to a masked pro-Russian militant

Keeping watch: A masked pro-Russian fighter smokes near the cars of the OSCE after the delegation arrived at the crash site near the village of Harbove, eastern Ukraine

Throughout the day, rescue workers, police and even coal miners have been combing the site where a Malaysian Airlines jet crashed after being shot from the sky by a surface-to-air missile, scattering wreckage and bodies across the Ukrainian countryside.

Shocking new accounts of the carnage at the MH17 crash site have emerged, with eyewitnesses describing distressing scenes of naked bodies strewn across fields as well as countless possessions including children's books and playing cards, slippers, letters and old vinyl records.

Yesterday it emerged that looters have descended on the distressing scene, stealing valuable goods from the 298 passengers and crew, who all died in the blast.

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Kiev government, said: 'I have received information that terrorist death-hunters were collecting not only cash and jewellery of the crashed Boeing dead passengers but also the credit cards of the victims.'

Later on Friday he published the image of the dead infant and said: ‘We don’t know this baby’s name or nationality – perhaps from Netherlands, Malaysia or the USA.’

Mr Gerashchenko said that ‘no-one would be able to imagine the horror this baby felt falling several kilometres’.

He added: ‘We can only hope that he or she was sleeping in the mother’s arms and didn’t wake up until dying from the crash.'

The image of the dead infant was published as it emerged that at least 80 children were among the 298 killed when a passenger jet was shot out of the sky at 32,000ft by a surface-to-air missile yesterday.

Weapon behind the crash: How the Buk 9K37 missile system works

All hand on deck: Coal miners help with the search effort at the crash site near the village of Rozsypne in eastern Ukraine

Patrol: An armed pro-Russian militant passes the wreckage of the plane at the crash site in eastern Ukraine

Wreckage: Local residents gather around the area cordoned off at the crash site of flight MH17 near the village of Rozsypne

Recovery: A white flag placed by the Ukrainian Emergency Services marks the location of the remnants of a body at the site of Thursday's crash

Two Indonesians aged just three and five who were flying with their parents, as well as three Australian children headed home with their grandfather, numbered among the dead after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held Ukraine yesterday.

Also on board the doomed flight were around 100 Aids experts on their way to an international conference, a Catholic nun from Australia and a British university student.

The nationalities of more victims were confirmed yesterday - with the toll now including 192 Dutch, 44 Malaysians, 28 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons. One of the victims was a U.S. citizen, who had both Dutch and American passports.

Now a rebel commander blamed for downing MH17 says ‘bodies aren’t fresh’ as he claims in a bizarre interpretation of events that many of the passengers died days before the plane took off.

The pro-Russian rebel website Russkaya Vesna on Friday quoted Igor Girkin as saying he was told by people at the crash site that 'a significant number of the bodies weren't fresh,' adding that he was told they were drained of blood and reeked of decomposition.

Girkin, also known as Strelkov and allegedly a former Russian military intelligence agent, said he couldn't confirm the information. Girkin said 'Ukrainian authorities are capable of any baseness.'

The Boeing 777 aircraft was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was hit by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile over territory near Donetsk held by pro-Russian rebels who the Ukrainian government says are backed by the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine for the attack.

Disturbing: A woman walks past a body covered with a plastic sheet in a sunflower field near the site of a crashed Malaysia Airlines passenger plane near the village of Rozsypne

What remains: Part of the Malaysian Airline plane lies damaged in a field after it was shot out of the sky on Thursday

Surveying the damage: Firefighters walk among the smoking remains of flight MH17 at the crash site in eastern Ukraine. The white flags stuck into the ground indicate to rescue workers where victims lie

Mr Cameron was expected to use a phone call with Mr Putin last night or early today to warn the Russian president he risks being made an international pariah over Thursday’s crash.

An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York last night issued a call for a ‘full, thorough and independent international investigation’. Russia agreed – but said ‘all blame’ lay with the Ukraine government.

Britain’s ambassador to the UN blamed Russia, saying Mr Putin’s decision to encourage and arm the separatists had sown the seeds of the disaster.

Sir Mark Lyall Grant said Russian citizens were leading the uprising and accused Moscow of supplying weaponry including tanks, missile launchers and artillery.

He added: ‘The United Kingdom urges Russia to reflect carefully on the situation they have created. It is clear where responsibility lies.’

The Foreign Office has also sent extra consular staff to Ukraine and the Metropolitan Police are liaising with international partners to send specialist offers to the country to assist with the recovery, identification and repatriation of those killed. Downing Street said six investigators from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch would arrive in Kiev on Saturday to provide assistance to a Ukrainian-led investigation, including experts from other affected nations, into the crash.

In London, Mr Cameron chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee, Cobra. He also made phone calls to a string of world leaders whose citizens were on the doomed plane, including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In a message on Twitter, Mr Cameron said he had told Mr Rutte: ‘We grieve with… the Dutch people.’

Investigators from the F.B.I. are among those en route to eastern Ukraine to determine the details of what happened to the plane.

It was revealed on Friday that an expert believes that MH17 was downed by a missile fired from rebel-held Torez in eastern Ukraine. A BUK anti-aircraft launcher has been pictured rumbling into the town just two hours before the crash, leading to speculation that it was this piece of equipment that was used to bring about the tragedy.

Childhood toy: An armed pro-Russian fighter holds up a stuffed animal that was found among the debris during a search of the crash site

Distressing: Personal belongings and luggage belonging to passengers is scattered in the field at the crash site of flight MH17

Search: Workers comb the fields looking for the bodies of those travelling on flight MH17. Yesterday international monitors arrived on site to gather more information about the crash

The tragedy has sparked outrage across the globe, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk leading calls on world powers to support his government in bringing to justice 'those b****** who committed this international crime' after a passenger plane was shot down over his country.
Russia and Ukraine yesterday continued a cynical ‘blame game’ over who downed Flight MH17 as relatives mourned the victims.

NATIONALITIES OF THE MH17 VICTIMS

Netherlands: 192

Malaysia: 44

Australia: 27

Indonesia: 12

UK: 10

Germany: 4

Belgium: 4

Philippines: 3

Canada: 1

New Zealand: 1

Moscow categorically denied any connection to the attack. Ukraine’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called for Russia to be held to account, saying: ‘We ask all respective governments to support the Ukrainian government to bring to justice all these bastards who committed this international crime.’

Mr Putin insisted Ukraine was to blame, saying: ‘The state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility.’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed Ukraine’s claims Moscow was involved, saying: ‘I have pretty much never heard a truthful statement coming out of Kiev.’

Security forces from Ukraine claim to have intercepted two phone conversations in which in which pro-Russian separatists seem to celebrate hitting the plane. In the wake of the aviation disaster tributes have poured in for the victims, who include families and renowned researchers.

​

Mr Norris’s son Brack, 24, paid tribute to his father, niece and nephews. ‘I’m a bit dizzy right now,’ he told MailOnline in Australia.

The family had been on holiday and the children’s parents had remained in Amsterdam for a few extra days, but Mr Norris took his grandchildren on MH17 to get them back to Australia in time for school, Australian broadcasters reported.

Mr Norris, the managing director of management consulting firm Collaborative Systemic Change Pty Ltd, is survived by his son Brack, who is the company's marketing manager, and daughter Kirstin, a marine engineer with the Royal Australian Navy. He was a well-known member of the South Perth Yacht Club.

The identities of British victims also emerged today, including two Newcastle United fans on their way to see the club play in New Zealand, and a student from Leeds University.

A Leeds university student has also been named as one of the British nationals who died when flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine. Richard Mayne, 20, was originally from Leicester where he lived with his parents.

He also leaves behind his brothers Thomas, 24, and William, 19. Mr Mayne was studying maths and finance at the university.

Twisted: The burnt-out remains of the Malaysian Airline flight. Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were not able to secure an access corridor on Friday

Tragedy: TV pictures show a pall of smoke billowing into the sky apparently from the stricken aircraft

Speaking from the family home today, his father Simon, 53, said: 'He was on his way to Perth. When we were looking at flights together, there was this one that stopped in Amsterdam and we thought it would be perfect.

'I took him to the airport at 3am myself, to fly to Amsterdam. When I first saw it on the news, my heart dropped. I just thought, oh god, oh god – I couldn't believe it. We were hoping and praying he had fallen asleep at Amsterdam and missed his flight.

'You think you've got problems and them something like this happens and it all just takes over. I can't even bring myself to look at a photograph of him. We are beyond devastated. It is such a beautiful sunny day but our lives have been torn apart.'

Student Ben Pocock from Bristol was also named today as one of the victims. Mr Pocock, who was in his early 20s, had just finished studying at Loughborough University and was headed to Australia for a year's placement abroad.

The university paid tribute to Mr Pocock, today, saying he was destined to achieve a first-class degree.

Emergency workers, police officers and even coal miners spread out across the sunflower fields and villages of eastern Ukraine, searching the wreckage of MH17

Search: The Foreign Office is in talks with consular teams in Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur to obtain passenger lists to establish how many UK nationals were on board the plane

Found: Among the belongings found by workers combing the crash site were playing cards, comic books and notebooks filled with children's drawings

'We are incredibly saddened to hear that one of our students, Ben Pocock, was believed to be a passenger on flight MH17,' a spokesman said.

'Ben had just completed the second year of his international business BSc degree and was flying out to begin a professional placement and to study abroad at the University of Western Australia as part of his third year.

'Ben was an excellent student and on course to gain a first class degree. He was also a fine athlete, who played on the university athletic union's Ultimate Frisbee team and won their Player of the Year honour.'

Glenn Thomas, a 49-year-old UN worker from Blackpool, was on board the flight. Mr Thomas was a media relations co-ordinator for the World Health Organisation, an agency of the United Nations agency, and had previously worked as a journalist for the BBC.

Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that 192 Dutch, 44 Malaysian (including 15 crew and two infants), 12 Indonesian, 10 British, four German, three Filipino, and one Canadian citizen were also on the plane.

Mr Thomas grew up in Blackpool and worked as a journalist in the Lancashire seaside resort in the early 1990s, where his twin sister Tracey Withers still lives. The Blackpool Gazette reported that he moved to Geneva, Switzerland, a decade ago to start working for the WHO.

He was said to have posted a status update shortly before starting his journey, which was supposed to end in Melbourne.

Condemned: Speaking at a press conference on Friday night, Barack Obama accused Russia of supplying arms to the separatist rebels which blasted flight MH17 out of the sky over Ukraine - killing on 298 passengers on board

Accusations: Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Luggage: Passengers' personal possessions are scattered in the fields around the crash site. Some suitcases and bags fell open on impact

Newcastle fans pay tribute to victims of Flight MH17

<center>

​

</center>
He caught a place from Geneva to Amsterdam, and boarded the doomed service from the Dutch capital to Kuala Lumpur, where he would have boarded a connecting flight. Mr Thomas lived in Geneva with his partner who lived in Geneva with his partner Claudio-Manoel Villaca-Vanetta, but is said to have kept up his ties to Blackpool.

Today one of his nephews said the family was 'totally torn up' by his death. The relative, a son of Mr Thomas's sister Tracey and her husband Mark, said his parents were on holiday in Spain when they heard the news.

He said: 'She is on her way home; she is totally torn up. Like any twins they are very close-one of them feels everything the other does.She must have known in her mind something terrible was going on.'

Tributes were paid to Mr Thomas today, whom colleagues described as 'a wonderful personal and a great professional'. WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib said: ‘I can confirm he was on the flight travelling to Australia to attend the Aids conference in Australia.

Debris: Charred remains of plane parts litter the fields of eastern Ukraine. President Obama has said that he blames Russia for supplying the militants who shot down the passenger aircraft

Out of the blue: A Ukrainian covers a body with a plastic sheet in a field. Malaysia's prime minister said there was no distress call before the plane went down and that the flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation

 

[ULike2CarryModBalls]

Tucked in the corner of a leafy square, is this the Russian missile launcher that blasted flight MH17 out of the sky?

• Expert believes that MH17 was downed by a missile fired from rebel-held Torez in eastern Ukraine
• Downing Street supports claims the missile was launched from Torez by 'pro-Russian separatists'
• BUK launcher has been pictured rumbling into the town just two hours before the crash
• Ukraine’s security agency, the SBU, has released recordings of intercepted phone calls
• Claim they prove Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a group of Russian-backed Cossack militants
• Neither recording - which allegedly includes a Russian military intelligence officer - could be independently verified
• Laughing rebels filmed the plane as it crashed, gleefully bragging 'that was a blast – look at the smoke!'
• Hillary Clinton said that there 'should be outrage in European capitals' over the downing of the airliner
• Expert claims that pilot of MH17 'felt uncomfortable' about his route over Ukraine but diverted to hostile airspace
• Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported the crash at 16.13 Moscow time - 'several minutes before the crash'

By James Nye and Sam Greenhill and Ted Thornhill
Published: 03:00 GMT, 18 July 2014 | Updated: 11:36 GMT, 19 July 2014

Lurking near blocks of Soviet-era flats, this is said to be the BUK rocket launcher just two hours before it blasted Flight MH17 out of the sky.

The four missiles on the tank-like vehicle were covered with camouflage sheeting while it waited under a tree.

Experts have pieced together a series of sightings of the machine to gather evidence of Russian collusion in the atrocity.

Suspicious: Ukrainian spies reportedly filmed the launcher used in the attack being smuggled to Russia - with two missiles missing

A view of what is believed to be a BUK surface-to-air missile battery being driven along a path on July 17 in Torez, Ukraine

Launch site? The BUK missile system photographed in Torez hours before MH17 was downed

Russian air defense missile system BUK M2 seen at a military show at the international forum in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, in 2010

Is this SAM, missing 2 missiles, being smuggled out of Ukraine?

<center>

​

</center>
Missile system 'seen in Ukraine' hours before MH17 shot down

<center>

​

</center>
A picture taken later shows an identical rocket launcher – on a low-loader and lacking two of its missiles – being smuggled in the direction of Russia.

It was suggested last night that the BUK will never be seen again.

Pentagon experts on Friday said it was impossible to imagine that the missile could not have been fired without Russian help.

Rear Adm. John Kirby said: 'It strains credulity to think that it could be used by separatists without at least some measure of Russian support and technical assistance.'

The first photo was taken in a residential neighbourhood of Torez, a coal-mining town ten miles from the crash site.

The BUK was pictured in a leafy corner next to a car park, near some Soviet-era apartment blocks. The peaceful scene, in the summer sunshine, belies the horror that soon followed.

The second picture appears to come from a video shot as the rocket launcher was on its way to fire the deadly missile.

Rumbling slowly along an empty road, the launcher was filmed from a few hundred yards away.

It was said to be driving toward a known pro-Russian defensive position – possibly the launch site.

A pro-Russian militant passes by the wreckage of a Boeing 777, of Malaysia Arilines flight MH17 debris

Finally, another video appeared online, this time said to be showing the machine being spirited away after the attack.

Allegedly filmed by a Ukrainian intelligence agent, it shows a glimpse of the rocket launcher on the back of a low-loader lorry, travelling much faster than it could on its caterpillar tracks.

Now being driven south – toward Russia – it seems to be missing two of its four rockets, suggesting MH17 could have been downed by a double missile strike.

There have been no further sightings, and Ukrainian officials are convinced the BUK will never be seen again. One Kiev official, Anton Gerashchenko, said: ‘In the night, the BUK system from which the missile was launched was removed to Russia, where it is likely to be destroyed.’

He added he thought the ‘direct performers of the terrorist attack’ would also have been killed to avoid any witnesses. Yesterday Dr Igor Sutyagin, research fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said he believed MH17 was shot down by rebels based in Torez.

He added: ‘These separatists boasted on Twitter about capturing a BUK SA11 missile launcher on June 29, and several hours before the downing of the plane, locals in Torez reported seeing BUK missile launchers and separatist flags around the city.

'Later, there was lots of video posted of the plane falling down and rebels saying that “it was not pointless moving it [the BUK] there”.’

Speculation over the source of the missile, which remains unconfirmed, has sparked a propaganda battle between both sides of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

Officials in Kiev have made repeated statements linking the attack to pro-Russian separatists.

Tonight, Downing Street supported the claims with a statement to say it appears 'increasingly likely that MH-17 was shot down by a separatist missile' fired from near Torez, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Dr Sutyagin said a Russian former special forces chief had said the separatists did not have the expertise to operate the missile launchers.

He then underscored the emerging Russian link to the tragedy.

He said: 'The military leader of the Donetsk Republic, Igor Strelkov, real name Girkin, a Muscovite, a Russian citizen, posts a video of the intercept.'

This video was taken down once it was discovered that the downed plane was civilian.

The expert implicated Russia further, revealing that the former commander of Russian Air Force Special Operations Command, a Colonel-General, stated recently in an interview that the separatists did not have the expertise to operate the BUK launchers, that only Russian personnel could do so.

It's also suspicious, Dr Sutyagin said, that Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported the crash at 16.13 Moscow time, several minutes before the crash actually happened - at 16.20.

'The plane is safely in the sky, and RIA Novosti publishes information that it has been shot down,' he said.

Dr Sutyagin also told MailOnline that information had been leaked from a source he was unwilling to name that the pilot of MH17 'felt bad' about his course over Ukranian airspace, so turned south.

Little did he know, according to Dr Sutyagin, that his plane would then be mistaken by rebels for a Ukrainian government resupply flight.

He said: 'There is a Ukrainian mechanised brigade blocked by separatists near the Russian border. It's blocked on three sides by separatists and behind the brigade is the Russian border, so they can't get out. The Ukrainians try to resupply them from the air by transport aircraft.

'Now, the pilot of MH17 said that he "felt bad" and wanted to change course to get out of the danger zone. But several kilometers to the south is a Ukrainian Army heavy transport plane, an IL76, or Candid, which has the same echo as a 777 on a radar screen.

'The two planes came close. They tried to shoot down the transport delivering supplies to the brigade. They believed that they had been firing at a military plane, but they mistakenly shoot down a civilian airliner.'

Interpol announced today it would fully assist the investigation of the horror.

Separatist rebels who control the crash site issued conflicting reports Friday about whether they had found the plane's black boxes or not.

'No black boxes have been found ... we hope that experts will track them down and create a picture of what has happened,' said Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai.

Admission of guilt or not? In a recording of an intercept, played to journalists, a Russian (military intelligence officer) called Igor Bezler (left and right) is heard reporting on the downing of the Boeing 777-200 to his superior in Russian military intelligence, Colonel Vasily Geranin (not pictured here)

REBELS 'MUST HAVE HAD HELP'

There were fears last night that the Kremlin has seized MH17’s black box flight recorders.

Reports in Russia claimed they were on their way to Moscow – but the Russian foreign minister denied having ‘any plans’ to take them.

Finding the cockpit voice and data recordings is a priority for crash investigators.

Whoever has access to them will have control over the information from the last moments of the flight – including the pilots’ final words – and they could prevent impartial investigators from analysing it.

Yet earlier Friday, an aide to the military leader of Borodai's group said authorities had recovered eight out of 12 recording devices.

Since planes usually have two black boxes - one for recording flight data and the other for recording cockpit voices - it was not clear what the number 12 referred to.

Earlier Ukrainian security services claim to have intercepted two phone conversations in which pro-Russian separatists appear to admit to shooting down Flight MH17, railing, 'They shouldn’t be f*****g flying. There is a war going on.'

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reportedly released recordings of the intercepted phone calls between Russian military intelligence officers and Russian-backed Cossack militants to the Kiev Post.

The phone calls, which could prove damning to Vladimir Putin, are allegedly from minutes after the Boeing 777-200 crashed and were apparently made near the village of Chornukhine, which is 50 miles north-west of Donetsk, near to the border with Russia, where the aircraft came down.

The first phone call was reportedly made at 4.40pm local time, or 20 minutes after the crash.

On the line allegedly is Igor Bezler, who according to the SBU is a Russian military intelligence officer and commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

He is apparently on the phone to a colonel in the Russian Federation armed forces named Vasili Geranin, explaining that the plane has gone down.

The SBU also released to the Kiev Post another telephone conversation between two militants identified only as 'Major' and 'Grek' who have apparently returned from the crash site.
This phone call takes place 40 minutes after the phone call which allegedly took place between Bezler and Geranin.

Putin lays blame on Ukrainian government after MH17 tragedy

<center>

​

</center>
A third part of the conversation that involves the 'Major' and 'Grek' seems to bring in Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin, who suggests that the Malaysian Airlines plane must have been carrying spies, otherwise it had no business flying in that airspace.

During the phone call between 'Grek' and the 'Major' they exclaim, 'holy s***' when they realize their error in shooting down a passenger jet.

Indeed, Reuters reported that Ukraine's state security chief accused two Russian military intelligence officers of involvement with pro-Russian rebels in the downing of a Malaysian airliner on Thursday, releasing chilling testimony of what he called an 'inhuman crime.'

SBU chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko based his allegation on intercepted telephone conversations between the two officers and pro-Russian fighters, one of whom referred to seeing 'a sea of women and children' in the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777.

'We will do everything for the Russian military who carried out this crime to be punished,' Nalivaychenko told journalists, who were shown video and audio transcripts of the recordings. 'The terrorists will not go on dancing on corpses.'

In a recording played to journalists of a conversation said to have taken place at 4.33 pm Kiev time, a rebel fighter going by the nom de guerre of 'Major' is heard telling another comrade called 'Grek' that a group of fighters had brought the airliner down.

'The plane broke up in the air, near the Petropavlovskaya mines. The first (casualty) has been found. It was a woman. A civilian,' he says.

At 5.42 pm 'Major' acknowledges the plane was civilian: 'Hell. It's almost 100 percent certain that it's a civilian plane.'

Arrival: The self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist 'Donetsk People's Republic' Alexander Borodai (centre) arrives on the site of the crash

Asked if there were many people on board, he replies in the affirmative with a swearword, adding: 'The bits (of the plane) were falling down in the streets ... There were the bits of couches, chairs, bodies.'

Asked if any weapons were found on board, 'Major' says: 'No - Civilian things, medical things, towels, toilet paper.'

He says ID documents of an Indonesian student had been found.

In another recording of an intercept, played to journalists, a Russian (military intelligence officer) called Igor Bezler is heard reporting on the downing to his superior in Russian military intelligence, Colonel Vasily Geranin.

'A plane has just been shot down. It was the 'Mine-laying' group ... They've gone to search and photograph the plane. It is smoking,' Bezler tells Gernanin at 4.40 p.m.
Asked 'How long ago?' he replies: 'About 30 minutes ago.'

THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE ALLEGED REBEL CONVERSATION THAT COULD PROVE DAMNING TO PUTIN AND RUSSIA

A phone call between rebels where they are heard to say ‘holy s***’ when they realized their error was intercepted by Ukraine’s security services, according to a Ukrainian newspaper.

Militants nicknamed ‘Major’ and ‘Greek’ were recorded speaking as ‘Major’ inspected the crash site and found only ‘civilian items’.

Also on the line were Igor Bezler, who authorities says is a Russian military intelligence officer and leading commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and a colonel in the main intelligence department of the general headquarters of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Vasili Geranin.

The unverified transcript was posted online by the Kiev Post newspaper:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).
Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?
IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.
VG: How many minutes ago?
IB: About 30 minutes ago.

Allegations: This is a grab from the video provided to the Kiev Post. Pictured are Igor Bezler and Vasili Geranin. While (right) are likenesses of 'Major' and 'Grek'

SBU comment: After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

'Major': These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.
'Grek': Yes, Major.
'Major': The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first '200'. We have found the first '200' - which is code for a civilian.
'Grek': Well, what do you have there?
'Major': In short, it was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.
'Grek': Are many people there?
'Major': Holy sh__t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).
'Grek': What kind of aircraft?

Official: A third part of the conversation that involves the 'Major' and 'Greek' seems to bring in Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin, who suggests that the Malaysian Airlines plane must have been carrying spies

'Major': I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.
'Grek': Is there anything left of the weapon?
'Major': Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.
'Grek': Are there documents?
'Major': Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson.
Militant: Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. It’s a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.
They say on TV it’s AN-26 transport plane, but they say it’s written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine’s territory?
Nikolay Kozitsin: That means they were carrying spies. They shouldn’t be f…cking flying. There is a war going on.

Pro-Russian rebels 'discuss downing of Malaysian jet'
​

<center></center>

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4J1RkENVCtE?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
​

In a third conversation, a rebel fighter says: 'It turned out to be a passenger plane. It fell in Hrabove area. There's a sea of women and children ...'

He adds: 'But what was it (the Malaysian airlines flight) doing over Ukraine?'

The man he is talking to replies: 'That means they've called up spies. No way to flights. This is war.'

'Okay, understood,' he replies.

'They discuss Russian saboteurs bringing down a passenger plane. They discuss the number of victims. We have fixed this conversation as taking place at 4.20. Now you know who carried out this inhuman crime against humanity,' Nalivaychenko said.

'We will open up to all possible channels, the means of this crime being objectively investigated, and the officers of the Russian Federation who carried out this crime being punished.'

Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Donetsk rebel spokesman Sergey Kavtaradze as denying that the intercepted phone conversations were genuine.

Yesterday it emerged that rebels laughed as they filmed the plane crashing, gleefully bragging ‘that was a blast – look at the smoke!’ while a fireball rose from the debris.

One of the voices is believed to be Strelkov, who then penned a triumphant war cry on Twitter, saying: ‘We warned you – do not fly in 'our sky'.’

A sickening mobile phone video posted online shows a pall of black smoke billowing over the crash site as three rebels provide an excited commentary.

The extraordinary footage – apparently filmed by the shooters themselves – charts the terrible final moments of the doomed airliner.

Their camera does not zoom in enough to see the plummeting plane in the sky, but the rebels’ voices can be heard talking happily of ‘black spots – these are the parts flying’, suggesting it fell to earth in several pieces.

A voice believed to be that of Strelkov – dubbed ‘Igor the Terrible’ – announces: ‘The plane was hit!’ He adds: ‘Look at those black spots, these are the parts, flying … it was a blast … look, look, black smoke!’

Another rebel, possibly referring to the missile system, laughs and says: ‘It was worth bringing this thing, wasn't it?’

None of the rebels can be seen in their horrific film, but it appears to be genuine because at the time only they seemed to know what was happening. Ordinary life carries on in the village where they are standing. A bus trundles by and an unsuspecting villager is seen wandering past the camera.

Shortly after the passenger plane was downed, Strelkov – seen smirking in propaganda photos – tweeted a boastful message claiming responsibility.

At the time, he apparently believed he had shot down an Antonov-26 military plane of the Ukrainian Air Force, saying it landed near a mine named Progress.

His chilling message read: ‘In the area Torez we just hit down An-26, it’s lying somewhere in the mine 'Progress'.

‘We warned you – do not fly in 'our sky'. And here is the video confirmation of the 'bird dropping'.

‘Bird fell near the mine, the residential sector was not disturbed. Civilians are not injured.’

Later as the horror became clear, the tweet was deleted.

Boast: Ukraine separatist Igor Strelkov said on Twitter ‘We warned you – do not fly in 'our sky'. And here is the video confirmation of the 'bird dropping'

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said European leaders should put more pressure on Mr Putin if Russia was involved in the incident.

She told PBS's Charlie Rose there should be 'outrage in European capitals' over Russian aggression in the region but ultimately it was up to Europe to take the lead.

She said: 'The questions I'd be asking is, number one, who could have shot it down? Who had the equipment? It's obviously an anti-aircraft missile. Who could have had the expertise to do that? Because commercial airlines are big targets, but by the time they got over that part of Ukraine they should have been high, so it takes some planning.

'And the Ukrainian government has been quick to blame it on terrorists, which is their name for the Russian insurgents. And there does seem to be some growing awareness that it probably had to be Russian insurgents.

'Now, how we determine that will require some forensics, but then if there is evidence pointing in that direction, the equipment had to have come from Russia. What more the Russians may or may not have done, we don't know.

'Europeans have to be the ones to take the lead on this. It was a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over European territory. There should be outrage in European capitals.'
Mrs Clinton endorsed stepped-up US sanctions against Russia but said they would not 'necessarily restrain' Mr Putin or change his calculations.