KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia awoke to another airline disaster Friday morning, 298 people on a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam losing their lives in mysterious circumstances when their plane appeared to have been shot down on the Russian border.
All around the country Malaysians were asking what happened to flight MH17, was it shot down - and if so by whom? - and what was it doing flying over a war zone?
Malaysia’s prime minister referred Friday to Ukrainian accusations the day before that the plane had been brought down by Russian rebels near the two countries’ tense eastern border - promising that any perpetrators would be brought to justice.
"No stone will be left unturned,” Razak Najib said during an emotional press conference Friday morning. “If the plane has indeed been shot down, Malaysia will insist that the perpetrators be swiftly brought to justice.”
Najib added that he had received a call from U.S. President Barack Obama, during which they had mutually agreed for a thorough investigation that will include an international team with full access to the crash site.
He also stressed that no one should interfere with the area or move any debris - including the black box – from the crash site in Hrabove, a rebel-held village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Rebels who refer to themselves as the Donetsk People's Republic released a statement to Moscow-based wire agency Interfax overnight saying that they have the plane’s black box and are willing to supply it to Russia’s air safety authority.
Malaysia Airlines – which has confirmed that the Boeing 777 did not make a distress call - announced Friday that it had revised its passenger count from 295 to 298 – including 183 passengers and 15 crew members.
Of the 283 passengers on flight MH17, 154 were from the Netherlands while 43 - including the 15 crew and two infants – were Malaysian.
The Malaysian national flag carrier said it is still in the process of notifying the next-of-kin of passengers and crew, while focusing on working with emergency responders and authorities.
“The usual flight route was earlier declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation,” the airline said in a statement Friday morning, adding that the airspace in which the aircraft was traveling was not subject to restrictions.
EUROCONTROL – an international organization for air traffic management – said on its website that the flight’s route had been closed by Ukrainian authorities from ground to an altitude of 32,000 feet – but was open at the level the aircraft was flying.
“Since the crash, the Ukrainian authorities have informed EUROCONTROL of the closure of routes from the ground to unlimited in Eastern Ukraine,” the statement added.
“All flight plans that are filed using these routes are now being rejected by EUROCONTROL. The routes will remain closed until further notice.”
The area of the crash is near the site where Ukraine claims Russia shot down a Sukhoi Su-25 on Wednesday night, officials in Kiev accusing its neighbor's armed forces of being directly involved in attacks on its troops battling an insurgency near the border.
Anton Gerashenko, a Ukraine Interior Ministry adviser, claimed on his Facebook page Thursday that the plane was flying at an altitude of around 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was "shot down with a Buk anti-aircraft system by terrorists."
The Ukraine government uses the term "terrorists" in relation to pro-Russia separatists it is battling who are seeking to unite the east of Ukraine with Moscow.
Buk launchers are believed to be able to fire missiles for a distance of around 25,000 meters.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin held Ukraine responsible for the crash, saying in a statement Friday.
"This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in southeast Ukraine,” he said.
Malaysia is dispatching a special disaster assistance and rescue team, as well as a medical team, via a special emergency flight to the crash site.
“We want to mobilize their full support to provide all possible care to the next-of-kin,” a spokesperson for the airline said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members."
The airline has also announced it is deploying a "Go Team" to the city where the flight originated - Amsterdam - with a group of caregivers and volunteers to assist passengers’ family members.
Tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border have risen dramatically since Ukrainian forces ousted separatists from its eastern city of Sloviansk. Russia has shifted more troops towards the border area and at the weekend a Russian civilian was killed by shellfire Moscow claimed came from Ukraine forces.
Earlier Thursday, a Ukrainian military spokesman said a Russian warplane had shot down a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 - a twin-engine jet military aircraft - over the country's east on Wednesday night.
The Russian defense ministry denied it had struck the plane, calling the allegation "absurd."
An Antonov An-26 transport aircraft was also downed near the border Monday, Kiev saying it was almost certainly hit by a surface to air missile fired from the Russian side of the border.
The disappearance adds to a woeful year for Malaysia's national carrier, following the disappearance of Beijing-bound flight MH370 after it left Malaysian airspace March 8.
A total of 239 people were on board the flight, including 12 crew and 153 Chinese citizens.
Despite the most intensive search in commercial aviation history, Malaysia's efforts to find the plane have been heavily criticized by media and the family of passengers.
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