Interfax-Ukraine
July 17, 2014
Malaysian plane crashes near Shakhtarsk in Donetsk region – Ukrainian law enforcement source
A Malaysian plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur disappeared from radar at 10,000 meters and then crashed near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a source in the Ukrainian law enforcement authorities said.
According to the source, the group of the state emergencies service is on way to the scene.
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Xinhua News Agency
July 17, 2014
Malaysian passenger plane down in Ukraine near Russian border
-“The plane was shot down by the Ukrainian side. We simply do not have such air defense systems, our MANPADs have a firing range of only 3,000 to 4,000 meters, while passenger jets fly at a much higher altitude.”
MOSCOW: A Malaysian flight crashed Thursday in Ukraine near the Russian border, with all the 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board reportedly having been killed.
“A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, started descending 50 kilometers before entering Russian airspace, and was subsequently found burning on the ground in Ukrainian territory,” Interfax news agency quoted an aviation source as saying.
The plane disappeared from radar at 10,000 meters and then crashed near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, it said, citing Ukrainian law enforcement authorities.
An advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko wrote on his Facebook that “280 passengers and 15 crew members have been killed.”
A group of emergencies service is on the way to the scene.
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Andrei Purgin, first deputy prime minister of the DPR [ Donetsk People's Republic], said the first militia units had reached the crash site and found many children dead.
There were reports saying that the plane was shot down by the eastern Ukrainian militants, which was immediately denied by the leadership of the DPR.
“The plane was shot down by the Ukrainian side. We simply do not have such air defense systems, our MANPADs have a firing range of only 3,000 to 4,000 meters, while passenger jets fly at a much higher altitude,” Interfax quoted DPR officials as saying.
The militants said they did not rule out that the plane could have been brought down by Ukrainian servicemen.
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UNIAN
July 17, 2014
Lufthansa, Air France, “Aeroflot”, “Transaero” and Turkish Airlines suspend flight above Ukraine
Leadership of a range of airlines made decisions to suspend flights above the territory of Ukraine.
In particular, now it is known that the following airlines suspend flights above Ukraine: Lufthansa, Air France, “Aeroflot”, “Transaero” and Turkish Airlines. According to information of airlines, routes of scheduled flights will be changed and will be carried out in a way to avoid the Ukrainian airspace.
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