If you were waking up today expecting a positive news story to kick off your Friday, you’re getting about the most extreme opposite imaginable. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by what seems to have been a ground-to-air missile near the border separating Russia and Ukraine. 295 people were on board the flight – 280 passengers and 15 crew – including 27 Australians. There are no known survivors.
The tragedy occurred over eastern Ukraine; the disputed area currently the scene of fighting between the Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists. US Vice President Joe Biden confirmed that the crash was not an accident, stating that the aircraft was “blown out of the sky.“
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko confirmed in a statement that Ukraine Military Forces had not fired on the plane, and called shooting an act of terrorism.
All major airlines have now diverted previous routes to avoid the eastern Ukraine region by wide margins.
More on this horrendous story as it develops.
Photo: Alexander Khudoteply via Getty Images.
