Via: India Today LIVE: Malaysian plane MH17 shot down in Ukraine, all 298 aboard killed Agencies New Delhi/ Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, July 17, 2014 Ukraine believes missile downed Malaysia Airlines jet Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysia Airlines plane was blown up over Eastern Ukraine by a sophisticated missile believed to be fired by pro-Russia rebels, killing all 298 people on board, as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak today demanded that perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice. This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia. The flights passengers were from many nations but we are all united in grief, Najib said today. The Boeing 777 was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and it had not made a distress call. It is still not clear if the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down purposely or mistakenly yesterday. Najib said a probe would begin immediately into it. The government of Malaysia is dispatching a special flight to Kiev, carrying a special Malaysia disaster assistance and rescue team, as well as a medical team, he told reporters at a press conference. He said that Ukrainian authorities believed that the plane was shot down by pro-Russia rebels but that Malaysia was unable to verify this at this moment. Singapore, Air India airlines were just 25 kms away from MH17 when it disappeared An Air India flight AI 113 was dangerously close to the Malaysian plane MH17 when it was shot down over Ukrainian air space. A mere 25 kilometers separated the two jets before the Malaysian Airlines flight crashed. A 24-hour global flight tracking service called Flightradar24 has reported that a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 jet (SQ 351) and an Air India Boeing 787 jet (AI 113) were about 25 kilometers from MH17 when it disappeared. Top AIDS experts among Malaysian flight crash victims Some of the worlds top AIDS experts, bound for an international conference in Melbourne, Australia, were among those killed in Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash, authorities said Friday. The International AIDS Society (IAS) in a statement on its web site said the loss of so many lives was a deep tragedy, reported Xinhua. IAS expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine, the statement said. Germany calls for independent inquiry into planes downing in Ukraine German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday called for an independent, international investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine. Ukraine accused terrorists - militants fighting to unite eastern Ukraine with Russia - of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 295 people aboard. Leaders of the rebel Donetsk Peoples Republic denied any involvement. Merkel called for an immediate, independent investigation into the causes of the crash, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. For the chancellor, the suspected circumstances in which the plane was allegedly shot down from a great height are shocking, he said. If this news is confirmed, she said it would represent a further tragic escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Seibert added. Obama calls leaders of Malaysia and Ukraine US President Barack Obama has called Malaysian Prime Minister and his Ukrainian counterpart to discuss the situation of Malaysian plane crash in the war-torn eastern Ukraine that killed nearly 300 people. Obama also had a teleconference with his national security team yesterday to confer with them the crash of the plane, which US Vice President Joe Biden believes was apparently shot down. A Malaysian aircraft heading from Western Europe to Kuala Lumpur as it crossed or was near the border of Ukraine and Russia apparently has been shot down shot down, not an accident, blown out of the sky, Biden said. Obama convened a conference call with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the tragic loss of the airline. Upon arrival in New York City, the President convened a call with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the tragic loss of the Malaysian Airlines flight. Afterward, the President convened a secure call with senior members of his national security team to receive an update on the tragic loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. During the conference call Obama was briefed on efforts to support the Ukrainian government and a prompt international investigation into the tragedy. The President directed his national security team to continue offering whatever assistance is necessary to advance the international effort to determine what happened, he said. In his call with Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak, Obama expressed condolences to the Malaysian families who lost their loved ones in the tragic event. The President told the Prime Minister that United States has offered immediate assistance to support a prompt international investigation. President Obama reaffirmed the strength of the friendship between the US and Malaysia and underscored that the US stands ready to provide any assistance or support necessary, the White House said. Obama also spoke with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the tragic crash of the flight. Poroshenko welcomed the assistance of international investigators to ensure a thorough and transparent investigation of the crash site, the White House said, adding that Obama assured him that US experts will offer all possible assistance immediately. Malaysian airliner downing puts spotlight on buk missile system Washington: As Russia and Ukraine trade blame over the apparent shooting down of a Malaysian airliner, they appear to agree on one thing: the type of Soviet-era missile that brought it down. But if an SA-11 Buk missile, known as Gadfly in NATO, struck the aircraft and killed all 298 on board, that wont solve the mystery of who did it: Russia, Ukraine and Russian-speaking rebels have all claimed the missile in their arsenals. Circumstantial evidence points increasingly to the separatists, Western officials and analysts say, pointing to rebel claims of shooting at Ukrainian military aircraft at approximately the same time. The rebels were believed to have used a similar system to shoot down a Ukrainian Antonov AN-26 aircraft on Monday. Whether the 1970s-era radar-guided missiles would have been supplied by Russia or captured from Ukrainian forces is uncertain. Even if we know the weapon type, it is impossible now to say where it came from, said Samuel Charap, a former US State Department official and now a fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington. On June 29, Russian newswire ITAR-TASS quoted separatists in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, not far from where the plane went down, as saying they had seized control of a missile defence army unit equipped with the Buk system. U.S. orders American aircraft to avoid eastern Ukraine airspace The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an order on Thursday night prohibiting American aircraft from flying over eastern Ukraine following the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight in that region. Citing recent events and the potential for continued hazardous activities, the FAA said the restricted area included the entire Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions. This action expands a prohibition of U.S. flight operations issued by the FAA in April, over the Crimean region of Ukraine and adjacent areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the agency said. Australian, Korean airlines shifted Ukrainian flight routes months ago Some international airlines, including Australias Qantas Airways and Koreas two major carriers, shifted the route taken by flights operating over Ukrainian air space months ago amid increasing tensions between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels. The airlines took extra security precautions despite no official ban from regulators on flying through the area, even as others continued to use the route. Although the detour adds to flight time and cost, we have been making the detour for safety, and until the Ukrainian situation is over we will continue to take the detour route for our cargo flight out of Brussels, an Asiana Airlines Inc spokeswoman told Reuters. U.N. Security Council to meet on Friday on Ukraine The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Ukraine on Friday and is mulling a draft statement calling for a full, thorough and independent international investigation into what caused the crash of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine. The British-drafted statement, reviewed by Reuters, stressed the need for all parties to grant immediate access by investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident. The Malaysia Airlines jet was carrying 295 people. Such informal statements by the 15-member council are agreed by consensus. If there were no objections the statement was due to be issued later on Thursday. But diplomats said Russia had asked for the deadline to be extended until Friday morning to give it more time to review the three paragraph statement. Obama, Poroshenko stress evidence from plane crash must stay in Ukraine U.S. President Barack Obama and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko emphasized in a phone call on Thursday that all evidence from the downed Malaysian jetliner must remain in Ukraine for investigators to see. President Poroshenko welcomed the assistance of international investigators to ensure a thorough and transparent investigation of the crash site, the White House said of the call. President Obama assured him that U.S. experts will offer all possible assistance immediately. The presidents emphasized that all evidence from the crash site must remain in place on the territory of Ukraine until international investigators are able to examine all aspects of the tragedy, it said. At least 154 Dutch among victims in Malaysia Airline jet crash-official Most of the 283 passengers aboard the Malaysia Airlines jet that crashed over eastern Ukraine on Thursday were Dutch, the airlines European chief said. Malaysia Airlines senior vice president Huib Gorter said there were at least 154 Dutch, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, six Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Phillippinos and one Canadian aboard the Boeing 777 jet. There were a further 47 passengers whose nationality was not yet known. All the 15 flight crew were Malaysian. Earlier on Thursday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the crash was possibly the worst air accident in Dutch history. UN urges international probe into downed Malaysian plane United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a full and transparent international investigation into what brought down a Malaysian civilian airliner. I am closely monitoring the reports, along with the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency. There is clearly a need for a full and transparent international investigation, Ban said. Biden says downed jet was blown out of the sky U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the downing of a Malaysian airliner near the Ukraine-Russia border apparently was not an accident and that the passenger jet was blown out of the sky. Biden, in a speech in Detroit, said there may have been Americans on board and determining that was the first priority for the United States. He called the downing of the plane a grave situation and said there are many questions that need to be answered. Biden said the planes downing was apparently not an accident and that the jet had been blown out of the sky. Ukraine accuses Russian officers over Malayisan airliner downing Ukraines state security chief accused two Russian military intelligence officers of involvement in the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and said they must be punished for their crime. SBU chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko said he based his allegation on intercepts of phone conversations between the two officers. Now you know who carried out this crime. We will do everything for the Russian military who carried out this crime to be punished, he told journalists. Ukraine rebels could agree brief truce for recovery work at crash site A pro-Russian separatists could agree to a two- to three-day truce in eastern Ukraine to allow recovery work at the site of a downed Malaysian airliner, Russias RIA news agency quoted a rebel leader as saying on Thursday. The rebels, who have risen up against central rule, were holding talks with representatives of the national authorities on allowing access to the site for international organisations, Alexander Boraday, the self-styled prime minister of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, was quoted as saying. AI, Jet to avoid airspace over war-torn eastern Ukraine Indian carriers, Air India and Jet Airways, are likely to avoid the airspace of war-torn eastern Ukraine in view of reported shooting down of a Malaysian airliner. Air India will abide by any international advisory to avoid airspace over conflict zone like Ukraine, an Air India official said. Aviation sources said airlines have to take a call on there routing to America and European destinations. There are several routes to go to the US and europe and airlines have to take a call whether to abide by global aviation advisory on the such issues, they said. Malaysian PM says shocked by report Malaysian plane has gone down Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Friday he was shocked by reports a Malaysia Airlines plane had gone down over Ukraine and he was launching an investigation. I am shocked by reports than an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation, Najib said on his Twitter feed. MH is the code for Malaysia Airlines. In Pics The incident comes after a Malaysia Airlines plane went mising on March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board. Pro-Russian militants shoot down Malaysian airliner, says Ukraine Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday said the plane could have been shot down, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces had nothing to do with it. Raising the stakes in the East-West showdown between Kiev and Moscow, a Ukrainian interior ministry official blamed terrorists using a ground-to-air missile and Ukraines prime minister called the downing of the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur a catastrophe. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said the government has formed a special investigative commission for the incident. Interfax-Ukraine quoted another Ukrainian official as saying the plane disappeared from radar when it was flying at 10,000 metres (33,000 feet), a typical cruising altitude for airliners. Dutch PM returning to Netherlands after Malaysian plane downed The Dutch prime minister is on his way back to the Netherlands from a summit in Brussels after a Malaysia Airlines plane that took off from Amsterdam was downed in Ukraine. I am deeply shocked by the dramatic reports on the crash of of Malaysia Airlines MH17, PM Mark Rutte said, noting that he had been in touch with Ukraines president. Tour operators have told local media they had booked dozens of Dutch citizens onto the flight. Much is still unclear about the facts, circumstances and the passengers, he said of the flight, which is listed on flight-tracking websites as sharing planes on some routes with Dutch national airline KLM. Obama, Putin discuss Malaysia plane incident US President Barack Obama spoke on the telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon after news about the crash was received. A White House spokesman said Obama had asked to be kept updated on the developments and told his officials to be in touch with their Ukranain counterparts. A group of emergency services personnel is on the way to the crash
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 07:50:03 +0000
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