Malaysia Airlines Passenger Jet Shot Down Over Ukraine, U.S. Officials Say

A Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 295 people on board was shot out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile Thursday as it cruised over a hostile region of Ukraine, U.S. officials told NBC News.

The officials said they were trying to determine who fired the missile. The plane went down in one of the most volatile parts of the world — near the Ukrainian border with Russia, where separatists have fought Ukrainian security forces for months.

Vice President Joe Biden said at a public appearance that the plane was apparently “shot down, not an accident. Blown out of the sky.”

Key Points

• A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashes in Ukraine, near Russian border
 
• The airline lost contact with Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at 1415 GMT
 
• There were 280 passengers - mostly Dutch nationals - and 15 Malaysian crew on board
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has described it as "an act of terrorism"
 
• Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels accuse each other of shooting down the plane
 
• All times in BST (GMT +1)

1. 22:36: 
   Then Mr Putin reportedly said: "This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in south-east Ukraine."
2. 22:36: 
   The Russian president opened a meeting with his economic advisers by calling for a moment of silence, Associated Press news agency reports.
3. 22:30: 
   AP quotes Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying Ukraine "bears responsibility" for the crash.
4.  

   Los Angeles Times reporter Ryan Parker
   tweets: Malaysian Airlines executives: Going through passenger list thoroughly, making sure it's 100% accurate before releasing names #MH17
5. 22:29: 
   The Dutch foreign minister has said incident responders must have "unhindered access" to the crash site, Reuters reports.
6.  

   Flight tracking website Flight Radar
   tweets: Less flights over Ukraine. More flights over Bulgaria and Turkey after #MH17