Malaysian PM confirms MH17 downing.
A formal statement has just been issued by Malaysian Prime Minister, Najih Razak, confirming that a Malaysia Airlines 777-200 has crashed in eastern Ukraine, with authorities believing that it was shot down.
Flight MH17 departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm local time and was scheduled to land in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10am this morning with 295 people on board including 27 Australians.
MH has confirmed that the aircraft did not make a distress call, and the PM said the route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, while IATA stated that the airspace the aircraft was travelling in was not subject to restrictions.
A special flight is being dispatched to Kiev carrying MH staff and a disaster assistance and rescue team.
The Prime Minister said that at this early stage Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of the tragedy, and “if it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has urged anyone with concerns about relatives to attempt to contact them directly, and if unable to get in touch to then call the DFAT 24-hour consular emergency centre on 1300 555 135 within Australia or 61 2 6261 3305 from overseas.
More information in Travel Daily as it comes to hand.