Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash: All you should know

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER - Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on Thursday. After strewing debris and dead bodies over an area of several miles, the plane came to a rest in a large wheat field.

How it happened?

Ukrainian authorities lost contact with the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER, which was carrying 298 people including the crew on Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contact with the plane was lost by Ukrainian authorities lost when it was 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Tamak waypoint, approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Ukraine-Russia border.

The last reported position for MH17 was at 33,000 feet west of Ukraine's border with Russia.

What led to the crash of the plane?

Later on, Ukrainian authorities reported that the Malaysian passenger jet had crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border and as per reports, it is suspected that the plane was shot down with a surface-to-air missile.

It is still not clear if the Malaysia Airlines Flight was shot down purposely or by mistake.

As per a report in BBC, Ukrainian government adviser Anton Herashchenko alleges that the plane was hit by a missile fired by a Buk launcher - a Russian-made, medium-range surface-to-air missile system.

All the 298 passengers on the flight were killed

Ukrainian authorities later release a recording they say is a conversation between pro-Russian militants admitting to shooting down the plane.
Ukraine said a passenger plane was shot down Thursday as it flew over the country, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the plane.

Who all were aboard the flight?

All the 298 passengers aboard the Malaysian plane MH17 'shot down' in Ukraine were killed.

Malaysia Airlines released a full list of passenger nationalities. As per the list nationalities of 233 passengers have been identified. They break down of which is as follows:

154 from the Netherlands, 43 Malaysia (including 15 crew and 2 infants), 27 Australia, 12 Indonesia (including 1 infant), 9 United Kingdom, 4 Germany, 4 Belgium, 3 Philippines, 1 Canada and 41 still remains unverified.

Who said what:

"This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia. The flight's passengers were from many nations but we are all united in grief," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

Addressing Parliament on Friday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it seems Russian-backed rebels were responsible for shooting down the plane over eastern Ukraine. ''As things stand, Madam Speaker, this looks less like an accident than a crime," he said.