At least several dozen bodies were found scattered around the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane in eastern Ukraine, witnesses told RIA Novosti.
Witnesses say the debris of the plane covers an area of about one square kilometer.
According to various reports, a Malaysian Airlines Boeing-777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near the city of Donetsk on Thursday. There were at least 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board.
Flight controllers reported that the plane disappeared from radar screens while flying at an altitude of about 10,000 meters (some 33,000 feet).
Various sources speculated that the plane was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile, while press service of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine claimed it was downed by a missile fired from a Ukrainian air force Su-25 combat jet.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it had lost contact with its plane when it was above the Ukrainian airspace.
“Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow,” the company said on Twitter.
The plane was to arrive to Malaysia at 10:10 a.m. Moscow time (06:10 GMT). The contact with the plane was lost at the Tamak waypoint, 30 miles off the border with Russia.
