KUALA LUMPUR : A Malaysia Airlines plane was blown up over Eastern Ukraine by a sophisticated missile believed to be fired by pro-Russia rebels, killing all 298 people on board, as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak today demanded that perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice.
“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,” Najib said today.
The Boeing 777 was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and it had not made a distress call.
It is still not clear if the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down purposely or mistakenly yesterday.
Najib said a probe would begin immediately into it.
“The government of Malaysia is dispatching a special flight to Kiev, carrying a special Malaysia disaster assistance and rescue team, as well as a medical team,” he told reporters at a press conference.
He said that Ukrainian authorities believed that the plane was shot down by pro-Russia rebels but that Malaysia was unable to verify this at this moment.
“If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” he said.
Najib said he had talked to Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko who pledged a thorough investigation into the incident.
In a statement, the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) had stated that the airspace Flight MH17 was traversing was not subject to restrictions.
The flight manifest of the plane indicated that the MH17 had onboard 154 nationals from Netherlands, 43 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 9 from UK, 4 from Germany, 4 from Belgium, 3 from the Philippines, one from Canada.
About 100 of those killed in the crash were world- renowned AIDS researchers and activists heading to Australia for a global AIDS conference, reports said.
MAS said nationalities of 41 passengers were still to be verified.
The 15-member Malaysian crew included two ethnic Indians.
Meanwhile, European flights operated by Malaysia Airlines would be taking alternative routes and avoiding the usual route with immediate effect, the airline said.
The usual flight route, the national carrier said, was earlier declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). (AGENCIES)
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