There are confirmed reports that Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 (Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur) just went down over the region of the civil war in Eastern Ukraine. The plane was likely shot down. There are no survivors. This is a dangerous escalation of an already bloody and senseless conflict.
Russian news agency Interfax broke the news.
http://www.interfax.ru/...
They also report that Interior Ministry of Ukraine confirms the crash.
http://www.interfax.ru/...
Purported crash video.
Comments from some of the onlookers on the video are bloodcurdling. "Красота!" ("Nice!")...
From International Business Times....
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/...
From BBC...
http://www.bbc.com/...
Will update.
8:54 AM PT: Malaysian Airlines Twitter feed confirms contact with flight MH17 is lost.
https://twitter.com/...
8:58 AM PT: According to Ukraine's FM advisor Anton Geraschenko, there are no survivors, and the plane was shot with a "Бук" (SA-11 Gadfly or SA-17 Grizzly) rocket.
https://www.facebook.com/...
From that post (translation mine)...
Just over Torez, terrorists kindly provided by Putin with an anti-aircraft system "Buk" shot down a civilian aircraft Kuala - Lumpur - Amsterdam.
This morning, local patriots recorded movement of this system from Torez to Snezhnoe.
"Provided by Putin" is questionable: according to this report, Donetsk separatists did capture several "Бук" ("Buk") launch complexes from the Ukrainian military in the end of June.
http://www.vesti.ru/...
Moreover, the plane went down in the same area where the separatists earlier shot down a Ukrainian military plane:
http://slon.ru/...
9:29 AM PT: Will provide more updates in a few hours. In the meantime, alleged photos of wreckage are already surfacing.
https://twitter.com/...
9:50 AM PT: This might be the smoking gun. The blog of Igor Strelkov (one of separatist leaders) posted a gloating comment about the shooting, assuming that it was a Ukrainian military plane. Now the comment has been deleted, but not before many people got screen grabs.
http://korrespondent.net/...
10:18 AM PT: Depressing crash site photos (trigger warnings apply), also some photos of Buk missile system.
https://twitter.com/...
10:31 AM PT: There will be no more updates. Flight crew and passengers, rest in peace, and may the killers be brought to justice.