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© Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Malaysia when it went missing near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. There were 285 people and 15 crew members aboard the Boeing-777.

The passenger plane was expected to enter Russian airspace at 5:20pm local time - but the plane had failed to do so.

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"The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace," the airline tweeted shortly after early news of the plane's disappearance began to emerge.

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The Boeing 777 was carrying 285 passengers and 15 crew members on board.
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All 295 people aboard were killed in the disaster, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported a Ukrainian Interior Ministry official as saying.
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Donetsk People's Republic PM Aleksandr Boroday has termed the incident a provocation by the Ukrainian military, noting that forces in the east have no air defense that could target an aircraft at the height of 10,000 meters, while Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko noted:

"We stress that the armed forces of Ukraine did not carry out any action to destroy targets in the air."
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© Reuters / Maxim ZmeyevEmergencies Ministry members walk at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014
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Immediate investigations were launched by Malaysian PM Najib Razak. "I am shocked by reports than an MH (Malaysian Airlines) plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation," Razak wrote on Twitter.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin informed US President Barack Obama about the crash immediately by phone, on the basis of air controller data, but so far neither the Kremlin nor the White House have commented on whether the Boeing-777 was downed.
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© Reuters / Maxim ZmeyevAn armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014
International airlines including Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Transaero, Virgin, and Turkish Airlines have announced that their flights will be avoiding Ukrainian airspace.
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© Reuters / Maxim ZmeyevThe site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014.
At least seventy-one Dutch nationals were on board, reported RTL. It has also been reported by the media that 23 US nationals could have been on board, as well as four French nationals and "between five and 10 Britons" according to a Whitehall source who spoke to Mail Online.
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