A passenger plane from Malaysian Airlines with 295 people aboard was shot down in Ukraine, near the border with Russia, as reported by Interfax. The Kiev government has confirmed that all 280 passengers and 15 crew members died. The Russian news agency says that the plane was downed by a ground-based missile type BUK, according to an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. Both Russia and Ukraine have such weapon capabilities. Reuters has reported that the projectile was fired by separatists.
Reprots of the crash have been conflicting. Representatives of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk have denied that they have weapons to shoot down a plane flying at that altitude. A military spokesman of the antiterrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, Vladislav Seleznev, told the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti that the crash was an accident. The Associated Press is reporting that it was a Russian missilie that caused the crash.
The plane, a Boeing 777-200, was en route between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur. The aircraft disappeared from the radar in Ukraine at a height of 10,000 meters and lost communication when in the eastern Donetsk region, the scene of fighting between government forces and Ukrainian pro-Russian rebels. A rescue team from the Ministry of Emergency Situations has arrived at the crash site. The plane was found on fire near the town of Chakhtarsk, Reuters reported.
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