Malaysia Airlines shot down in Ukraine, 298 dead

airlinesA Malaysia Airlines passenger plane, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in Ukraine, near the Russian border –scene of tension between the two countries.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko blamed the Pro-Russia rebels in control of the area for shooting down the plane and described it as “an act of terrorism.”

While rebel forces claimed Ukrainian forces had brought down the plane.

It has been reported that all 298 people – 283 passengers and 15 crew members – on board the Boeing 777 died in the crash.

According to Russian Interfax news agency, the plane was flying through an international air corridor before it crashed on July 17.

As caution number of airlines, including India’s Air India have been asked to avoid Ukrainian airspaces.

The incident has also led to a number of high profile decisions between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Barak Obama, and between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the plane never made a distress call, and stressed that an international team should have full access to the crash site.

“We must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left unturned,” he said.

The UN Security Council has called for a full and independent international investigation.

On July 18, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said they would give international investigators access to the crash site, secure the site and allow the recovery of bodies.

Most of the passenger aboard the flight were Dutch, but there were also nationals from Germany, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, and Belgium. The nationality of 49 passengers is still to be verified.

On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared. Searchers have found no trace of the flight despite exhaustive attempts.

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