Jet 'downed', 295 die

18 July 2014 - 02:02 By Reuters, AFP and Staff reporter
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DEVASTATION: A pro-Russian separatist at the site of a Malaysia Airlines plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region yesterday
DEVASTATION: A pro-Russian separatist at the site of a Malaysia Airlines plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region yesterday
Image: MAXIM ZMEYEV/REUTERS

A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people crashed in rebel-held east Ukraine yesterday, in what the country's president described as ''a terrorist act".

Malaysia Airlines said it had "lost contact" with flight MH17, which Ukrainian officials said came down near the town of Shaktarsk, in the Donetsk region.

Initial reports said there were no survivors. It was not clear whether any South Africans were aboard the doomed Boeing 777, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Several Ukraine officials claimed the airliner had been shot down by a ''ground-to-air missile" deployed by separatist pro-Russian rebels battling the Kiev government. The separatists denied the claims last night.

An emergency services rescue worker said at least 100 bodies had so far been found at the scene, and that debris from the wreckage was spread across an area up to about 15km in diameter.

Broken pieces of the wings strewn in the field were marked with red and blue paint.

''I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang and shots," said a witness, who gave his name only as Vladimir. "Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke."

Last night, South African authorities were in touch with their Malaysian counterparts to determine whether any South Africans were on board the aircraft. A spokesman for the Department of International Relations, Nelson Kgwete, said: ''We have asked the mission in Kuala Lumpur to obtain the passenger list from the airline and determine if South African citizens were on board."

Still reeling from the disappearance of flight MH370, Malaysia announced on Twitter the loss of the airliner. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on his Twitter feed he was "shocked".

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