Malaysian Plane Shot Down By Surface-to-Air Missile

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew crashed Thursday in Grabovo, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. All 298 onboard are believed to have died.

Initial reports indicated the Boeing 777-200ER was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. The United States has concluded this to be the cause of the accident, according to CNN, although they have not yet determined who was responsible.

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur departed at 12:15 p.m. local time. Ukrainian air traffic lost contact with the aircraft at 2:15 p.m. GMT, 30 kilometers from Tamak waypoint. The plane was approximately 50 kilometers from the Russian border. Interfax quoted an official who said the plane was at a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet.

According to FlightAware tracking, MH17 was following the same route it took daily.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the downing a “terrorist act.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is blaming Russia and claims they will present evidence of Russian military involvement, reports ABC’s Kirit Radia.

Igor Girkin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, took credit for the attack on VK.com, a Russian version of Facebook. “We have warned everyone: do not fly in our skies.”

Russia has denied involvement, with Vitaly Churkin, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, blatantly telling assembled reporters outside the U.N., “We didn’t do it.” Vladimir Putin’s spokesman told the Guardian the allegations were “stupidity.”

On Wednesday, the United States targeted Russian weapons-makers in their latest round of sanctions out of concerns that Russia is providing them to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. The sanctioned companies include Almaz-Antey, a manufacturer of surface-to-air missiles.

U.S. stocks immediately fell after news of the crash. The Dow Jones industrial average closed more than 150 points, or 0.9%, sending the index below 17,000. Standard & Poor’s fell 1.1%, while the Nasdaq dropped by 1.4%.

At a press conference in Delaware, Barack Obama commented on the crash. “Looks like it may be a terrible tragedy,” he said. “Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board, that is our first priority.”

He added, “[We] will offer any assistance we can to determine what happened and why.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak commented shortly after the story broke, writing on Twitter, “I am shocked by reports than an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation.”

In March, Malaysia Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared from radar. Despite months of searching, the plane has yet to be found.

This story has been updated to include the revised death toll.

[Photo: Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev]