TripZillaOur thoughts are with the families of the victims and we offer them our deepest condolences.
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Final Update 4:00pm
With this update, we will be ceasing our live coverage of this tragedy. Please refer to MAS’ MH17 media statement and information page for more official updates.
While there has not been any confirmation of who shot the missile that struck MH17, current evidence points towards the pro-Russia separatists mistakenly shooting the aircraft down.
The rebels reportedly posted a number of social media posts in which they claimed responsibility for the shooting down of a Ukrainian military plane (see 12:55am update below), only to hastily remove the posts after realising that the aircraft hit was in fact MH17.
Ukrainian officials have been quick to publicise these social media posts, while the Russian state media has avoided mentioning these posts, instead reporting that it was Ukrainian forces that shot down the plane.
Pro-Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda also released an audio recording of what they claimed was an intercepted phone conversation between a pro-Russian separatist leader and a Russian intelligence agent, in which the rebel leader informs the agent of their forces shooting down a plane. Listen to the recording here:
This tragedy is likely to have a profound impact on the ongoing Ukraine crisis, but whether the consequences will be positive or negative are still currently difficult to predict.
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Update 2:00pm
MAS released a new media statement at 1.30pm (GMT +0800), saying that MH17’s plane had a “clean maintenance record” with the aircraft’s last maintenance check being on July 11, 2014. Previously, the airline also stressed that MH17’s flight route had been declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Singapore authorities stated that there have been no reports of Singaporean victims, while offering their “deepest condolences to the families of the victims in this time of profound grief.”
To recap, American intelligence agencies have confirmed that the plane was struck by a ground-to-air missile, but there has been no clear evidence as of yet regarding who shot down the plane.
Ukrainian officials and pro-Russia separatists have been pinning the blame on each other for the downed plane, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko describing it as “an act of terrorism”. Pro-Russia rebels have denied having the capability to bring down such a high-flying airplane.
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Update 10:00am
MAS has clarified that a total of 298 people were on flight MH17, contrary to the earlier reported number of 295. The 298 on board comprised of 283 passengers and 15 crew members of Malaysian nationality.
A preliminary breakdown of the passengers’ nationalities has also been released – 154 Dutch passengers were on the flight together with 27 Australians, 30 Malaysians (including two infants), 12 Indonesians (including one infant), nine British, 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, 3 Filipinos and 1 Canadian. Around 40 passengers have yet to be accounted for.
MAS is currently in the process of notifying the passengers’ next-of-kin, and will release the passenger’s manifest once all have been notified. Updates will be posted on MAS’s official site.
Various airlines, including MAS, have announced that they will be diverting their flights from Ukraine airspace.
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Update 12:55am
Ukrainian media are reporting that pro-Russia rebel forces claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian military plane. However, it seems that the downed aircraft was in fact MH17.
Pro-Russian separatist commander Strelkov, who thought that the plane was Ukrainian, said “We warned – do not fly in our skies“.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has been shot down and crashed in Ukraine. It is reported that all 280 passengers and 15 crew aboard the Boeing 777 are dead.
Anton Gerashenko, a Ukrainian interior ministry official, said on his Facebook page that MH17 was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk surface-to-air missile launcher.
MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The flight route took the plane across a troubled area around the Russian/Ukraine border. The Pentagon said Wednesday that Russia had 12,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, as well as some heavy weapons. On Thursday, Ukrainian officials said two of their aircrafts AN-26 and SU-25 were shot down from Russian territory. He stressed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not commit any actions in the air at the time of the MH17 crash.
A YouTube video of the downed plane has been posted. The crash site has allegedly been taken over by pro-Russian insurgents.
Malaysia Prime Minister Mohd Najib tweeted at 12:04AM Malaysia Time:
“I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.”
We will continue to update this article as the facts come in.
