
A general view shows the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. The Malaysian airliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian militants on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard, a Ukrainian interior ministry official said. (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev).
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying 295 people crashed near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Thursday.
According to a Facebook post from a top Ukrainian official, as it flew at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) on the way from Amsterdam to Malaysia.
CNN reported that a senior U.S. official said, a radar system saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft right before the plane went down.
The senior U.S. official also said that a second system saw a heat signature at the time the airliner was hit.
The United States is analyzing the trajectory of the missile to try to learn where the attack came from.
Please click the photos for larger images:
- People walk amongst the debris, at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine. Photo / AP
- A picture taken on July 17, 2014 shows the wreckages of the Malaysian Air plane carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk. Photo / AFP
- An Emergencies Ministry member works at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)
- The site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)
- An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev).
- The site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)
- Emergencies Ministry members work at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014, (Photo REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)