Malaysian Plane With 298 People On Board Crashes In Ukraine

A Malaysian passenger plane with 298 people on board has crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border.

The Boeing 777 plane, flight number MH17, with 283 passengers and 15 crew members, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and lost contact with a dispatcher when it was at the altitude of 10,000 metres within the Ukranian air space. Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency reports about 122 bodies of the deceased have been found, with many children and woman among them.

According to preliminary data, among 283 passengers there were 154 Dutch citizens, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 citizens of Indonesia, 6 Britons, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, 3 Filipinos and a Canadian. Citizenship of other passengers is yet to be confirmed.

Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko called shooting down of Malaysian plane an 'act of terrorism' and expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims. While Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, took to his Twitter to express his shock with MH17 crash in Ukraine.

The OSCE representatives are heading to the plane crash sight. The U.S. President Barack Obama said that the United States offer any assistance needed to determine what happened to the Boeing 777.

The crash comes only months after the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8. There are allegations that the plane was shot down in a region of military action where Ukrainian government forces are battling pro-Russian separatists, Donetsk city, in particular.

However, separatist rebels in the Easten Ukraine deny any involvement in the crash.

Watch the video from a location close to the crash site: 

Source: Legit.ng