Grabove, Ukraine: A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on Thursday in rebel-held east Ukraine, as Kiev said the jet was shot down in a "terrorist" attack.
Ukraine's government and pro-Russian insurgents traded blame for the disaster, with comments attributed to a rebel chief suggesting his men may have downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by mistake, believing it was a Ukrainian army transport plane.
There was no sign of survivors at the crash site, where an AFP reporter saw horrific scenes of carnage with dozens of mutilated corpses and body parts strewn through the smouldering wreck of the decimated Boeing airliner.
Charred debris stinking of kerosene stretched for kilometres across the rebel-controlled zone in the Donetsk region. A top rebel leader said his forces were prepared to agree to a short ceasefire to allow for the recovery operation.
Shell-shocked locals said the impact felt "like an earthquake" in their village of Grabove, near the Russian border. "Those poor people," said Natalia, 36. "Do you think they understood a thing about this war in Ukraine -- even we don't understand it."
Four French nationals were believed to have been on board the doomed flight, as well as a number of Dutch. Other countries were scrambling to determine whether any of their nationals were among the victims.
At Amsterdam's Schipol airport, from where the ill-fated jet took off, an AFP journalist saw family members in tears, while Dutch television broadcast harrowing images of passports found in the wreck, including those of children.
Europe's flight safety body Eurocontrol said Ukrainian authorities had closed the airspace over the east of the country, after a string of countries advised their carriers to stay away.
Tweet by Malaysian Airlines
Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.
— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) July 17, 2014Video of the ill fated Malaysian Jet
Immediate investigation
Still reeling from the loss of Flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines announced on Twitter the loss of the Boeing 777 along with its 280 passengers and 15 crew members. It said Ukrainian air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane at 1415 GMT, about four hours into its flight, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
The disaster comes just months after Malaysia's Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 on board. That plane diverted from its Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path and its fate remains a mystery despite a massive aerial and underwater search.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Twitter he was "shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed" and announced an "immediate investigation." Europe and US stock markets were sent tumbling by the crash, which escalated tensions fuelled by broadened US and EU sanctions.
Shocked world leaders from Washington to Brussels and Berlin joined in calling for an international inquiry to determine the causes of a disaster with potentially huge political implications. Diplomats said Britain called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine following the crash.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama -- at loggerheads over a new wave of sanctions over Ukraine -- had discussed what Obama called "a terrible tragedy". Washington offered Ukraine help with the probe, as Boeing also said it was ready to assist in any way.
Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic", meanwhile told an AFP reporter that separatist forces would be ready to commit to a truce for several days to allow full access to the site.
Shot by mistake?
There were conflicting claims of responsibility after the shocking new development in crisis-torn Ukraine where fighting between separatists and the Western-backed government has claimed over 600 lives.
The official spokesman for President Petro Poroshenko said he believed pro-Russian insurgents downed the jet. "This incident is not a catastrophe. It is a terrorist act," Poroshenko's spokesman posted on Twitter.
The Ukrainian leader said Kiev's armed forces "did not fire at any targets in the sky" and vowed "those behind this tragedy will be brought to justice". Pro-Russian rebels in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic claimed the airline split in two after being shot down by a Ukrainian jet -- which was then shot down in turn.
But a social media site attributed to the top military commander of the Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov, said the insurgents shot down an army transporter at the exact site of the Malaysia Airlines crash. The comments suggested separatists targeted the Malaysia Airlines plane in the belief it was an An-26 Ukrainian army transport plane. "We just downed an An-26 near Torez. It is down near the Progress mine," said the VK page attributed to Igor Strelkov.
"And here is a video confirming that a 'bird fell'," said the post, providing a link identical to that published by Ukrainian media in reports about the Malaysia Airlines jet.
Sanctions fallout
he crash came with tensions already soaring after Kiev accused Russia of downing a Ukrainian military plane on a mission over the east of the country on Wednesday, the first direct claim of a Russian attack on Ukrainian forces. The pilot managed to eject and was rescued, Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said. Russia's defence ministry -- which NATO claims has massed some 12,000 troops along Ukraine's porous border -- dismissed the claim as "absurd", news agencies reported.
The dramatic developments on the ground came alongside the already serious fallout from fresh US and EU sanctions slapped on Russia for its perceived support of separatists in the ex-Soviet state. Moscow condemned the measures as "blackmail" and warned of retaliatory action against Washington, which took a swipe at major players in Russia's finance, military and energy sectors in the sanctions.
In eastern Ukraine fierce fighting has intensified in recent days with some 55 civilians killed since the weekend, as efforts to revive talks on a ceasefire between Kiev and the rebels flounder. Ukrainian forces made a string of major gains after Poroshenko tore up an unsuccessful truce earlier this month, but progress has slowed since rebels retreated into two major regional centres where they have pledged to fight to the end.
