A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people has crashed in east Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, amid allegations it was shot down.
There are no signs of survivors at the scene of the crash near the village of Grabovo, which is under the control of separatist rebels.
Flight MH17 had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.
Ukraine's president called the loss of the plane an "act of terrorism" as the rebels denied shooting it down.
Separatists are believed to have shot down two Ukrainian military planes over the region in recent days.
Alexander Borodai, leader of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic which is defying the Ukrainian government, has been quoted as saying a truce could be agreed for "several days" to allow investigations and recovery operations to take place.
Leading airlines have announced they are now avoiding eastern Ukraine.
At a news conference at Schiphol airport, Malaysia Airlines' European chief Huib Gorter said that of the passengers that have been identified there were:
154 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians
Six Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three from the Philippines and one Canadian
All 15 of the crew were Malaysian
bbc.co.uk
6 сен 2024
