A Malaysian passenger plane carrying 295 passengers on board has just crashed somewhere near the Russian border, in Ukraine.
The Boeing Malaysian Airlines which was flying from Amsterdam to
Kuala Lumpur began to descend about 50km before entering Russian
airspace, and was subsequently found burning on the ground in Ukraine.
However, Interfax news agency reports that the airliner was shot down by a surface-to-air missile called BUK.
The BUK is a self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile
systems in the Soviet era and designed to engage cruise missiles, smart
bombs, aircraft and and unmanned aerial vehicles. Modern versions can
reach up to 80,000 feet.
Meanwhile, the President of the United States, Barack Obama has
reacted to the crash which, according to unconfirmed reports, had twenty
four Americans on-board.