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Malaysia Airlines plane crash - July 17 as it happened

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has crashed in Ukraine, on the border with Russia, with 298 people onboard. Ukraine's interior ministry says the plane was shot down by a missile.

By Steve Wilson, Raf Sanchez and Harriet Alexander
7:01AM BST 18 Jul 2014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...pened.html

Latest

06.45 Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have agreed to ensure safe access for international experts visiting the site.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a security and rights body, said in a statement on its website that a “contact group” of senior representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE had held a video conference with the separatists, who pledged to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities in the investigation.

Quote As a matter of priority, they (the separatists) shall close off the site of the catastrophe and allow local authorities to start preparations for the recovery of bodies,” the OSCE said.

It said the rebels had committed to providing safe access and security guarantees to the national investigation commission, including international investigators, in the area under their control.

05.45 A brief summary of the overnight developments if you are just waking up to news of the horrific events in Ukraine, from our reporter Raf Sanchez:

The US last night warned pro-Russian separatists not to interfere with evidence at the crash site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight as the West prepared to confront Moscow at the UN Security Council.

President Barack Obama demanded a "full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation" amid fears Russian-backed rebels might try to destroy evidence of their involvement in bringing down the Boeing 777.

Malaysia Airlines said nine Britons were among the 298 victims, whose bodies were scattered among debris across a miles-wide disaster scene in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine.

Australia, which lost at least 27 citizens, said last night the incident seemed "less like an accident than a crime" as it summoned the Russian ambassador amid growing evidence of Moscow's involvement.

More than 100 of the world's leading AIDS experts are believed to have been killed as they travelled aboard the flight to an international conference in Melbourne.

While Ukraine's government said it had evidence the Russian military and its separatist allies had brought down flight MH17, no Western nation as yet has pointed the finger of blame directly at Russia.

The West is expected today to use an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand that Russia and the pro-Russian rebels cooperate with an international investigation.

05.15 Among the passengers was former president of the International AIDS Society Joep Lange, a well-known HIV researcher from the Netherlands.

Chris Beyrer, president-elect of the Society, said if reports of Lange's death were true, "then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant."

04.30 The White House has urged Russia, pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine to support an immediate cease-fire in order to permit safe and unfettered access to the crash site.

Quote It is critical that there be a full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation as quickly as possible," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

"It is vital that no evidence be tampered with in any way and that all potential evidence and remains at the crash site are undisturbed."

02.50 US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for a "credible" international investigation into the apparent downing of the airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine..

Quote We are horrified by the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The United States government remains prepared to assist with a credible, international investigation any way we can, and we will continue to be in touch with all relevant partners as we seek the facts of what happened today."

02.12 Australia's Qantas Airways , Korea Air Lines Co Ltd and Asiana Airlines Inc have confirmed that they shifted flights operating over Ukrainian air space months ago amid increasing tensions between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels.

The Australian flag carrier said it shifted the flight path for its London to Dubai route over Ukraine some 400 nautical miles to the south "several months ago."

A Qantas spokesman declined to comment on the reasons for the shift, but a spokeswoman at Asiana Airlines, which stopped flying over the area on March 3, cited intensifying geopolitical tensions. Korean Air Lines stopped flights at the same time.

Also, reports the Telegraph's David Millward, US authorities have joined the list of countries banning flights over eastern Ukraine.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airman - a directive known in the industry as a NOTAM - expanding the prohibited area to include the entire Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions. An earlier directive already covered the Crimea and adjacent areas if the Black Sea and Sea of Azov

01.50 Some of the passengers on the plane were heading to a major international AIDS conference in Melbourne, the Australian government has confirmed.

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was due to connect with a flight to Perth, in western Australia.

UNAIDS Director Michael Sidibe, who is in Melbourne, tweeted that many passengers were enroute to the conference.

"At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy," the conference organisers, the International AIDS Society, said in a statement.

The week-long 20th International Aids Conference, with scheduled speakers including former US President Bill Clinton, is due to begin on Sunday.

01.03 Malaysia Airlines have moved to stress that the flight route taken by the plane that came down in Ukraine had been declared safe by the UN aviation arm, the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

They also said the International Air Transportation Association “had stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions”.

The airline said the plane was carrying a total 298 people, including three infants - 283 passengers and 15 crew. It earlier said it had been carrying 295 people which did not account for the three young children.

Netherlands 154
Malaysia 43
Australia 27
Indonesia 12
United Kingdom 9
Germany 4
Belgium 4
Philippines 3
Canada 1
Unverified 41

00.35 Malaysia Airlines have confirmed that there were 283 passengers on flight MH17 as well as 15 crew. They have also confirmed that all of their European flights will be diverted so as not to travel through Ukrainian airspace.

00.28 There have been unconfirmed reports on social media that some leading international Aids researchers and scientists were on the flight en route to Melbourne for the 2014 World Aids Conference.

00.18 The latest thinking on the provenance of the missile, according to the Wall Street Journal.

US intelligence agencies are divided over whether the missile was launched by the Russian military or by pro-Russia separatist rebels, who officials say lack the expertise on their own to bring down a commercial airline in mid-flight.

"All roads lead to the Russians to some degree," a US official told the newspaper.

00.01 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has added to his initial comments branding the tragedy an "act of terror", insisting the event poses a security challenge world wide and not just in Ukraine.

Quote Today’s tragedy showed again that terrorism is not localised, but a world problem. And the external aggression against Ukraine is not just our problem, but a threat to European and global security."

23.29 Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine is ultimately responsible for the crash of a Malaysian airline carrying 298 people in the strife-torn east of the country.

Quote There is no doubt that the country on whose territory this terrible tragedy happened bears responsibility,” Putin was quoted by Ria Novosti news agency as saying.

“This tragedy would not have happened if there was peace in the country, if military operations had not resumed in the south-east of Ukraine.”

The Russian leader added that he had ordered military officials to “provide all aid needed to shed light on this criminal act.”

23.15 Journalists covering the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine have been some of the first to chronicle first hand the gruesome carnage, with searing eye-witness reports from the wheat field where flight MH17 smashed to earth.

Quote A woman in a black sweater top lay on her back, blood streaming from her face, her left arm raised as if signaling someone,” wrote Sabrine Tavernise, a New York Times correspondent.

“Another victim, naked except for a black bra, lay on the field, her grey hair mixing with the green grasses, one leg broken and her body torn."

Rescue workers from the local militia forces tied pieces of white cloth on tree branches as near to the scene as they could as approximate markers of where bodies were found.

Locals told Noah Sneider, a freelance American journalist, that at first they thought they were being bombed as the plane tore apart above the ground, raining wreckage, bodies and personal possessions along a debris path cut across the rural area.

22.40 We reported earlier that the Ukrainian security services had released what they say are recordings proving that Russian military intelligence ordered MH17 to be shot down (20.16), and later the English transcript of that call (21.00). Here's the recording again with full English subtitles included this time.

22.18 With Australians accounting for the second largest number of confirmed passengers on the flight, their Prime Minister Tony Abbott had this to say:

Quote We are gravely concerned there were Australians on board this flight. We are profoundly concerned that the plane may have been shot down."

"If this was a crime a crime rather than an accident, it's an unspeakable crime and the perpetrators must be brought to justice."

22.06 Huib Gorter of Malaysia Airlines has said there were "probably 154 Dutch people on board," at the time of the crash.

Dutch officials are reporting the following distribution of nationalities:

154 Dutch
47 unknown
27 Australian
23 Malaysian
11 Indonesian
6 British
4 German
4 Belgian
3 Filipino
1 Canadian

21.58 Relatives of those on board are being frustrated in their search for immediate answers, reports Nick Allen:

Hours after flight MH17 came down dazed, disbelieving and frustrated relatives of passengers were gathering at Kuala Lumpur airport seeking information. Just as those of Flight MH370 found, they got little response.

Many of the passengers were Malaysian Muslims returning home for the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

Akma Mohammad Noor, whose sister Rahimah was believed to be on the flight, wept as she told Reuters: "I saw the news on TV. She was supposed to travel with her son but he did not want to go. We were supposed to celebrate together."

Another man trying to find out if his loved ones were on board berated airline officials, calling Malaysia Airlines "stupid".

He said: "We just want to know the name list."

Another man said: "Facebook is more efficient than Malaysia Airlines' media network. It's really a laughing stock. We need to know the list. The list. That is all."

21.48 The Malaysian prime minister is on television, addressing the crash of a Malaysia airlines flight for the second time in a year.

Quote No stone will be left unturned. If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.

21.45 Joe Biden, the US vice president, says MH17 was "apparently shot down". He's the most senior US official to raise the idea that the aircraft was brought down deliberately but doesn't say who the US believes is responsible.

21.40 At Britain's request, the UN Security Council is meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss the latest crisis in Ukraine.

21.35 Mark Rutte, Dutch prime minister, told a press conference at Schiphol, where the grieving relatives of MH17 passengers are gathered that he felt "broken", before travelling to his country's crisis centre in The Hague.

Quote The dramatic news of this flight is difficult to comprehend, this is possibly one of the worst air disasters in Dutch history. I am shocked and in mourning. This beautiful summer day has ends in total blackness. There is still a lot that is unclear.

21.30 Eurocontrol, which is responsible air traffic control across Europe, has said it will reject any flight plans which include Eastern Ukraine after the airspace was closed by the Kiev authorities.

It has also convened the Aviation Crisis Co-ordination Cell, to pull together a response to the disaster.

The move comes after a number of major airlines said they would not be overflying the region. British Airways has said it will keep its daily flight to Kiev, some distance away from the crash site, "under review”.

21.15 Here we go - US intelligence is apparently confident MH17 was shot down but still trying to figure out who was responsible.

21.00 We said earlier that the Ukrainian security services claimed to intercepted conversations proving that Russia and pro-Russian separatists were responsible for downing MH17. The Kyiv Post has now translated the conversation released by the Ukrainian government.

The first call is reportedly between a Russian military intelligence officer and a separatist commander. On the call, the officer reportedly says: "We have just shot down a plane".

The second call appears to be between two separatists as one examines the scene of the crash, where they appear to learn to their surprise that the flight was a civilian airlines. "It was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft," one says. "Holy s---! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes)."

20.51 This video purportedly shows the moment MH17 hit the ground in eastern Ukraine. Again, we can't immediately verfiy it.

20.40 Britain is reportedly requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the downing of the Malaysian aircraft. Philip Hammond, the new foreign secretary, has been in the job less than a week and is already facing a major international crisis.

20.35 This fascinating image shows the empty skies above Ukraine following the Malaysia Airlines crash. British Airways, Delta, Lufthansa and Air France have said they are all trying to avoid the area.

[Image: plane_2978802c.jpg]

By Steve Wilson, Raf Sanchez and Harriet Alexander

7:01AM BST 18 Jul 2014

• Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 'shot down' in Ukraine
• Ukraine claims flight was targeted by Russian forces
• US confirms plane was shot down, unclear by whom
• 298 aboard the plane with none surviving
• Delegates heading to HIV conference in Melbourne among dead
• White House calls for ceasefire to access crash site
• Nine Britons confirmed to have died in the tragedy
• Emergency contact: 00 60 37884 1234
Latest

06.45 Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have agreed to ensure safe access for international experts visiting the site.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a security and rights body, said in a statement on its website that a “contact group” of senior representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE had held a video conference with the separatists, who pledged to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities in the investigation.

Quote As a matter of priority, they (the separatists) shall close off the site of the catastrophe and allow local authorities to start preparations for the recovery of bodies,” the OSCE said.

It said the rebels had committed to providing safe access and security guarantees to the national investigation commission, including international investigators, in the area under their control.
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05.45 A brief summary of the overnight developments if you are just waking up to news of the horrific events in Ukraine, from our reporter Raf Sanchez:

The US last night warned pro-Russian separatists not to interfere with evidence at the crash site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight as the West prepared to confront Moscow at the UN Security Council.

President Barack Obama demanded a "full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation" amid fears Russian-backed rebels might try to destroy evidence of their involvement in bringing down the Boeing 777.

Malaysia Airlines said nine Britons were among the 298 victims, whose bodies were scattered among debris across a miles-wide disaster scene in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine.

Australia, which lost at least 27 citizens, said last night the incident seemed "less like an accident than a crime" as it summoned the Russian ambassador amid growing evidence of Moscow's involvement.

More than 100 of the world's leading AIDS experts are believed to have been killed as they travelled aboard the flight to an international conference in Melbourne.

While Ukraine's government said it had evidence the Russian military and its separatist allies had brought down flight MH17, no Western nation as yet has pointed the finger of blame directly at Russia.

The West is expected today to use an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand that Russia and the pro-Russian rebels cooperate with an international investigation.

05.15 Among the passengers was former president of the International AIDS Society Joep Lange, a well-known HIV researcher from the Netherlands.

Chris Beyrer, president-elect of the Society, said if reports of Lange's death were true, "then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant."

04.30 The White House has urged Russia, pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine to support an immediate cease-fire in order to permit safe and unfettered access to the crash site.

Quote It is critical that there be a full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation as quickly as possible," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

"It is vital that no evidence be tampered with in any way and that all potential evidence and remains at the crash site are undisturbed."

02.50 US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for a "credible" international investigation into the apparent downing of the airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine..

Quote We are horrified by the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The United States government remains prepared to assist with a credible, international investigation any way we can, and we will continue to be in touch with all relevant partners as we seek the facts of what happened today."

02.12 Australia's Qantas Airways , Korea Air Lines Co Ltd and Asiana Airlines Inc have confirmed that they shifted flights operating over Ukrainian air space months ago amid increasing tensions between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels.

The Australian flag carrier said it shifted the flight path for its London to Dubai route over Ukraine some 400 nautical miles to the south "several months ago."

A Qantas spokesman declined to comment on the reasons for the shift, but a spokeswoman at Asiana Airlines, which stopped flying over the area on March 3, cited intensifying geopolitical tensions. Korean Air Lines stopped flights at the same time.

Also, reports the Telegraph's David Millward, US authorities have joined the list of countries banning flights over eastern Ukraine.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airman - a directive known in the industry as a NOTAM - expanding the prohibited area to include the entire Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions. An earlier directive already covered the Crimea and adjacent areas if the Black Sea and Sea of Azov

01.50 Some of the passengers on the plane were heading to a major international AIDS conference in Melbourne, the Australian government has confirmed.

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was due to connect with a flight to Perth, in western Australia.

UNAIDS Director Michael Sidibe, who is in Melbourne, tweeted that many passengers were enroute to the conference.

"At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy," the conference organisers, the International AIDS Society, said in a statement.

The week-long 20th International Aids Conference, with scheduled speakers including former US President Bill Clinton, is due to begin on Sunday.

01.03 Malaysia Airlines have moved to stress that the flight route taken by the plane that came down in Ukraine had been declared safe by the UN aviation arm, the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

They also said the International Air Transportation Association “had stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions”.

The airline said the plane was carrying a total 298 people, including three infants - 283 passengers and 15 crew. It earlier said it had been carrying 295 people which did not account for the three young children.

Netherlands 154
Malaysia 43
Australia 27
Indonesia 12
United Kingdom 9
Germany 4
Belgium 4
Philippines 3
Canada 1
Unverified 41

00.35 Malaysia Airlines have confirmed that there were 283 passengers on flight MH17 as well as 15 crew. They have also confirmed that all of their European flights will be diverted so as not to travel through Ukrainian airspace.

00.28 There have been unconfirmed reports on social media that some leading international Aids researchers and scientists were on the flight en route to Melbourne for the 2014 World Aids Conference.

00.18 The latest thinking on the provenance of the missile, according to the Wall Street Journal.

US intelligence agencies are divided over whether the missile was launched by the Russian military or by pro-Russia separatist rebels, who officials say lack the expertise on their own to bring down a commercial airline in mid-flight.

"All roads lead to the Russians to some degree," a US official told the newspaper.

00.01 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has added to his initial comments branding the tragedy an "act of terror", insisting the event poses a security challenge world wide and not just in Ukraine.

Quote Today’s tragedy showed again that terrorism is not localised, but a world problem. And the external aggression against Ukraine is not just our problem, but a threat to European and global security."

23.29 Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine is ultimately responsible for the crash of a Malaysian airline carrying 298 people in the strife-torn east of the country.

Quote There is no doubt that the country on whose territory this terrible tragedy happened bears responsibility,” Putin was quoted by Ria Novosti news agency as saying.

“This tragedy would not have happened if there was peace in the country, if military operations had not resumed in the south-east of Ukraine.”

The Russian leader added that he had ordered military officials to “provide all aid needed to shed light on this criminal act.”

23.15 Journalists covering the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine have been some of the first to chronicle first hand the gruesome carnage, with searing eye-witness reports from the wheat field where flight MH17 smashed to earth.

Quote A woman in a black sweater top lay on her back, blood streaming from her face, her left arm raised as if signaling someone,” wrote Sabrine Tavernise, a New York Times correspondent.

“Another victim, naked except for a black bra, lay on the field, her grey hair mixing with the green grasses, one leg broken and her body torn."

Rescue workers from the local militia forces tied pieces of white cloth on tree branches as near to the scene as they could as approximate markers of where bodies were found.

Locals told Noah Sneider, a freelance American journalist, that at first they thought they were being bombed as the plane tore apart above the ground, raining wreckage, bodies and personal possessions along a debris path cut across the rural area.

22.40 We reported earlier that the Ukrainian security services had released what they say are recordings proving that Russian military intelligence ordered MH17 to be shot down (20.16), and later the English transcript of that call (21.00). Here's the recording again with full English subtitles included this time.

22.18 With Australians accounting for the second largest number of confirmed passengers on the flight, their Prime Minister Tony Abbott had this to say:

Quote We are gravely concerned there were Australians on board this flight. We are profoundly concerned that the plane may have been shot down."

"If this was a crime a crime rather than an accident, it's an unspeakable crime and the perpetrators must be brought to justice."

22.06 Huib Gorter of Malaysia Airlines has said there were "probably 154 Dutch people on board," at the time of the crash.

Dutch officials are reporting the following distribution of nationalities:

154 Dutch
47 unknown
27 Australian
23 Malaysian
11 Indonesian
6 British
4 German
4 Belgian
3 Filipino
1 Canadian

21.58 Relatives of those on board are being frustrated in their search for immediate answers, reports Nick Allen:

Hours after flight MH17 came down dazed, disbelieving and frustrated relatives of passengers were gathering at Kuala Lumpur airport seeking information. Just as those of Flight MH370 found, they got little response.

Many of the passengers were Malaysian Muslims returning home for the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

Akma Mohammad Noor, whose sister Rahimah was believed to be on the flight, wept as she told Reuters: "I saw the news on TV. She was supposed to travel with her son but he did not want to go. We were supposed to celebrate together."

Another man trying to find out if his loved ones were on board berated airline officials, calling Malaysia Airlines "stupid".

He said: "We just want to know the name list."

Another man said: "Facebook is more efficient than Malaysia Airlines' media network. It's really a laughing stock. We need to know the list. The list. That is all."

21.48 The Malaysian prime minister is on television, addressing the crash of a Malaysia airlines flight for the second time in a year.

Quote No stone will be left unturned. If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.

21.45 Joe Biden, the US vice president, says MH17 was "apparently shot down". He's the most senior US official to raise the idea that the aircraft was brought down deliberately but doesn't say who the US believes is responsible.

21.40 At Britain's request, the UN Security Council is meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss the latest crisis in Ukraine.

21.35 Mark Rutte, Dutch prime minister, told a press conference at Schiphol, where the grieving relatives of MH17 passengers are gathered that he felt "broken", before travelling to his country's crisis centre in The Hague.

Quote The dramatic news of this flight is difficult to comprehend, this is possibly one of the worst air disasters in Dutch history. I am shocked and in mourning. This beautiful summer day has ends in total blackness. There is still a lot that is unclear.

21.30 Eurocontrol, which is responsible air traffic control across Europe, has said it will reject any flight plans which include Eastern Ukraine after the airspace was closed by the Kiev authorities.

It has also convened the Aviation Crisis Co-ordination Cell, to pull together a response to the disaster.

The move comes after a number of major airlines said they would not be overflying the region. British Airways has said it will keep its daily flight to Kiev, some distance away from the crash site, "under review”.

21.15 Here we go - US intelligence is apparently confident MH17 was shot down but still trying to figure out who was responsible.

21.00 We said earlier that the Ukrainian security services claimed to intercepted conversations proving that Russia and pro-Russian separatists were responsible for downing MH17. The Kyiv Post has now translated the conversation released by the Ukrainian government.

The first call is reportedly between a Russian military intelligence officer and a separatist commander. On the call, the officer reportedly says: "We have just shot down a plane".

The second call appears to be between two separatists as one examines the scene of the crash, where they appear to learn to their surprise that the flight was a civilian airlines. "It was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft," one says. "Holy s---! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes)."

20.51 This video purportedly shows the moment MH17 hit the ground in eastern Ukraine. Again, we can't immediately verfiy it.

20.40 Britain is reportedly requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the downing of the Malaysian aircraft. Philip Hammond, the new foreign secretary, has been in the job less than a week and is already facing a major international crisis.

20.35 This fascinating image shows the empty skies above Ukraine following the Malaysia Airlines crash. British Airways, Delta, Lufthansa and Air France have said they are all trying to avoid the area.

Here's Delta on staying out of the area:

20.27 Obama had very little to say when he appeared in Delaware earlier, saying cautiously that "it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy".

20.25 It appears to be a totally chaotic scene at the crash site, where debris and bodies are scattered over the Ukrainian landscape. Ukraine's government is saying "armed terrorists" i.e. the pro-Russian separatists are hampering the effort to investigate the crash site. The separatists are meanwhile reportedly offering a two- or three-day truce to allow recovery work to happen.

This is an already-complicated air crash operation unfolding in the middle of a civil war.

20.16 The Ukrainian security services have released what they say are recordings proving that Russian military intelligence ordered MH17 to be shot down. Here's the recording, we're working to verify it.

20.15 The International Air Transport Association, the global airline body based in Geneva, is denying reports that the Malaysia Airlines flight was in restricted airspace at the time it went down.

Quote Based on the information currently available, it is believed that the airspace that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions.

19.55 There's a lot of confusion right now over what's happened to MH17's black boxes, the recorders that would detail the flight's final moments.

The Ukrainian military is claiming that the pro-Russian separatists have recovered the box:

Waiting for official confirmation from the rebels that they have the box and, if so, what they plan to do with it. The black boxes would give us a sense of whether the aircraft's crew were given any warning by forces on the ground.

19.51 Distraught relatives of passengers on a Malaysian airliner that crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine were shielded from the media at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport as news of the disaster spread.

An AFP journalist saw several family members - many in tears - led into a restaurant on the upper deck of the airport, from where the ill-fated jet had taken off hours earlier.

Shocked passengers due to catch a later flight to Kuala Lumpur, the destination of the crashed plane, said they were determined to make their journeys.

"I'm going to board the plane. I'm sure the airlines are now taking precautions," passenger Asri Strankina told AFP.

19.45 More images from the scene.

[Image: malaysiacrash021_2978759c.jpg]

19.43 Joe Biden, the US vice president and the White House's key figure in contacting foreign leaders during crises, has just got off the phone with the Ukrainian president to offer US help "to determine what happened and why".

19.41 Germany's RTL is reporting that 71 Dutch citizens were onboard.

We already knew there were reportedly 23 Americans and 9 Britons on the plane.

19.33 Ukraine's president has spoken about the disaster.

19.29 The accident is already having a knock-on affect across Europe.

This evening, the Department for Transport in London said flights were now being diverted.

A DfT spokesman said: "Flights already airborne are being routed around the area by air traffic control in the region. Pilots around the world have been advised to plan routes that avoid the area by Eurocontrol, the European organisation for the safety of air navigation."

Airliner tracking sites seemed to indicated that traffic was now steering clear of Ukrainian airspace.

19.21 Witness from the scene described an entire field covered in debris from the plane and body parts scattered across a wide area.

As night was falling, fire crews had arrived on the scene to extinguish flames that were still burning on the wreckage, while armed rebel militia men secured the area, standing guard.

Locals said they heard two loud bangs before seeing flaming wreckage fall from the sky.

19.11 Barack Obama said very little about the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight as he appeared at an event in Delaware:

Quote The world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we're working to determine whether there were American citizens onboard. That is our first priority and I've directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the Ukrainian government. The US will offer any assistance we can to determine what happened and why. As a country our thoughts and prayers are with all the families of the passengers, wherever they call home.

19.09 Our former transport editor, David Millward has been getting reaction from pilots.

Opinion Danny Fyne, a commercial pilot voiced surprise at route taken by the Malaysian flight given that a Ukrainian transport plane had been shot down earlier this week.

"Flights have already been diverted away from Crimea," he said. "I find it unusual that the flight went over this area."

He added it should also have been clear to both civilian and air traffic controllers that the Boeing was a civilian aircraft with a secondary radar system picking up both the plane's altitude and unique call sign.

19.06 A Malaysian government source told The Telegraph that there were eight Britons on board - but this could not be confirmed.

19.04 Ukrainians based in London are calling for a rally tonight.

London Euromaidan calls all Londoners to the Russian embassy for 20:00hrs today to protest against the tragedy of Malaysian airline flight being shot down in Ukraine by the Russian invaders. The international community must act.

We will leave flowers at the Malaysian (19:30hrs) and Dutch (19:50hrs) embassies prior to the protest.

19.02 Our chief foreign correspondent, David Blair, has analysed the similarities with another crash.

Malaysia Airlines Crash: Similarity with earlier Soviet-era disaster

In September 1983, Korean Airlines flight KAL 007 was nearing the end of its journey over the Kamchatka Peninsula, the enormous spur of land which juts south from Russia's Pacific coast, when it attracted the attention of Soviet radar.

The pilots had been unaware they were straying over a region home to some of Russia's most sensitive military bases.

19.00 This image, broadcast by Russian television channel LifeNews, claims to show the downed plane.

We cannot verify it yet.

[Image: malaysiacrash018_2978692c.jpg]

18.59 REUTERS - Number of dead from crash of #MH17 more than 300, includes 23 US citizen: Interior Ministry adviser, quoted by Interfax

18.56 An incredible story has emerged from Facebook.

A Dutch passenger, Cor Pan, took a photo of the plane from the departures lounge of Amsterdam airport.

He captioned the image: "If it disappears, this is what it looks like."

This is the photo he took.

[Image: malaysiacrash011_2978637c.jpg]