Updated: Jul 18, 2014 5:11 PM (RNN) – President Barack Obama confirms one American was killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and that intelligence showed the missile that shot down the plane was fired by Russian-backed separatists. While calling for an immediate cease fire, Obama urged Russia and the rebels not to touch the crash site so international investigators, including those from the National Transportation and Safety Board, can conduct an investigation. No one can deny the truth in the awful images that we have seen, he said. And were going to make sure the truth is out. Obama echoed the words of U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, who addressed the floor of the U.N. earlier, who called for Russia to end the war - using stronger language that has previously been used in discussing the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Power pointed out Putins willingness to negotiate, but chastised the Russian president for breaking his word at every turn, and gave this as the reason the U.S. and allies put stricter sanctions into effect. If President Putin continues to choose escalation of deescalation, the international community will continue to impose sanctions, Power said. A Ukrainian official said 181 bodies had been recovered. The 298 people who were on board are all assumed dead. Many of the passengers were AIDS researchers headed to Australia for an international conference. Russia President Vladimir Putin asked Friday for both sides in the conflict to lay down their arms and have peace talks. According to CNN, the passengers were from at least 10 different countries: 189 from the Netherlands, 29 from Malaysia, 27 from Australia, 12 from Indonesia, nine from the United Kingdom, four from Germany, four from Belgium, three from the Philippines, one from Canada, one from New Zealand and four of unknown nationalities. CNN reported 95 people and 18 vehicles were involved in the search and recovery operation over the 9- mile wide debris field. Pro-Russian separatists in control of the area have provided conflicting information on the rescue. Separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai said no black boxes had been recovered from the plane, according to the Associated Press. However, an aide to Borodais group said eight of 12 recording devices had been found. The AP report stated planes usually carry only two black boxes. CNN said they had been told black boxes had been found and were being taken to Russia. Ukraine Security Service released intercepted audio they claimed to be a phone call between pro-Russian militants shortly after the crash, as well as a translated transcript. The men in the call said they had shot down the plane thinking it was a military aircraft. Two men, identified as Major and Grek, then realize it was a passenger jet. Major : I haven’t ascertained (the type of aircraft). I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies. Grek: Is there anything left of the weapon? Major : Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper. Grek: Are there documents? Major : Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson. A man identified as Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin was then told that TV identified it as a transport plane, but it says Malaysia Airlines on a piece of the wreckage. “That means they were carrying spies, Kozitsin said. They shouldn’t be f___g flying. There is a war going on.” An Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe team is headed to the crash site and was three hours away as of 4:30 a.m. EDT, according to CNN, and it is reported that Russian separatists will give them access to the terrain where wreckage is strewn. OSCE staff have been detained and even jailed in the past in eastern Ukraine during the ongoing conflict. In addition, the OSCE group consists of military monitoring observers who are not aviation experts, CNN said. Body parts and bodies were seen in fields and a nearby village in what is described as a gruesome scene, according to the AP. Rescue teams, which include policemen and even coal miners, were going through the site in eastern Ukraine, according to the report. Both Malaysian and Australia have asked for independent fact-finding teams amid concerns over tampering with physical evidence. U.S. sources have said that the Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 298 people was shot down over Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile. CNN reported a radar system saw a surface-to-air missile track a plane right before it went down and that a second system saw a heat signature when the airliner was hit. Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, claimed on his Facebook page that a Buk missile system was used to shoot down the plane, not an on-the- shoulder missile launcher. Gerashchenko said the plane crashed near the city of Donetsk, a stronghold for pro-Russian forces. The plane was flying at 33,000 feet, and a shoulder missile launcher has a range of 15,000. The plane did not make a distress call. The Boeing 777 aircraft was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia Airlines says 154 victims were Dutch, 43, including the crew, were Malaysian and 28 were Australian. Other passengers hailed from the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines and Canada. Nationalities of 41 victims have not been identified. A report stated there were 23 Americans on the flight, but Jen Psaki with the U.S. State Department said Thursday she could not confirm that. A group scheduled to attend the International Aids Conference in Melbourne, Australia, were on the flight, according to the International AIDS Society. Russian President Vladimir Putin puts the blame squarely on the Ukrainians and their fight against pro-Russian rebels. This tragedy would not have happened, if there had been peace on that land, or in any case, if military operations in southeastern Ukraine had not been renewed, Putin said in televised remarks. And without a doubt the government of the territory on which it happened bears responsibility for this frightening tragedy. This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia, said Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak at a news conference Thursday. Malaysian officials on Friday defended their use of the airspace over Ukraine noting that other airlines also were flying over the embattled nation.Australia had 28 people on board according to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who on Friday demanded an independent inquiry into the tragedy, according to the Associated Press. He also met with Russia’s ambassador to Australia on Friday and said his response was to blame Ukraine for the loss of life, the report said. Abbott was angered by that stance because he said Ukraine separatists operate with Russian-supplied heavy weaponry. Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, says the airspace was closed up to 32,000 feet, but was open at the level at which the aircraft was flying. The airspace is now closed until further notice and all flight plans that are filed using these routes are now being rejected by Eurocontrol. According to the European Cockpit Association, the route being flown by the plane is the most common route for flights from Europe to South East Asia. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called it the result of a terrorist action. Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets, he said. Rebels said they did not shoot down the plane and blamed the Ukrainian government. On Putins website, he acknowledged he and President Barack Obama discussed the crash of MH-17, as well as the hostilities in Ukraine and the tightening of sanctions against Russia. The U.S. will offer its assistance to determine what happened and why, Obama said Thursday. The flight left Amsterdam at 12:14 p.m. local time and was scheduled to last about 12 hours. That would have put it in Kuala Lumpur around 6 a.m. local time on July 18. Izzy Sim said she and her family were supposed to be on the flight but switched to a later flight because there werent enough seats on the plane. Im shaking. I dont even know what to do and Im physically sick, she told RTL. I feel like Ive been given a second chance. The Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. aircraft from flying over the Crimea region of Ukraine and Russia since April 25, citing concerns for air-traffic control. Boeing, the maker of the airplane, issued a statement from their Seattle office: Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones. Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities. A Ukrainian cargo plane crashed near the border Monday. A Ukraine government official said they believe it was shot down from the border, and initial reports from U.S. intelligence said the cargo plane was shot down from the Russia side of the border. In late 2013, then-Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, who has close ties to Moscow, pulled out of an associated deal with the EU, sparking protests that led to his downfall. Russian troops invaded the Crimean section of Ukraine, with the government later annexing it, and pro-Russian separatists have continued a conflict with Ukraine troops. The Obama administration announced stronger sanctions Wednesday against Russia. This incident coincided with the 18th anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 800. The Boeing 747 was traveling from New York to Paris when it exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean nine miles off the coast of New York on July 17, 1996. The crash killed all 230 passengers and crew. Malaysia Flight 370 disappeared en route to Beijing, China, after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8. The flight was carrying 239 people, including three Americans, and gave no signals of distress before losing communication. On Sept. 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by the Soviet Union in the East Sea. Originally, the Soviets denied any knowledge of the incident but later claimed the plane was on a spy mission. The flight data recorders were not released for eight years. Copyright 2014 Raycom News Network.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 17:25:48 +0000
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