Photo taken on July 18, 2014 shows the debris at the crash site of MH17 of Malaysian Airlines near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Friday that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Annex 13, the Ukrainian government should institute an investigation into the circumstances of the deadly MH17 incident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation. (Xinhua/Alexander Ermochenko) >> More

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for a fair and objective probe into the crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane in eastern Ukraine.

"I was shocked," he said at a joint press conference with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of the Thursday tragedy, which killed all the 298 people aboard the ill-fated Flight MH17. >> More

The Chinese president conveyed his deep condolences on the massive loss of lives and sincere sympathies with the families of the victims.

"I hope that a fair and objective probe will be carried out to establish the truth as early as possible," said the Chinese president.

The Boeing 777-200 airliner was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it suddenly vanished from radar. The Ukrainian government and insurgents in the restive east have been accusing each other of shooting down the plane. >> More

UNSC calls for thorough probe into MH17 crash

The UN Security Council on Friday called for a "full, thorough and independent" investigation into the downing of the Malaysian airliner over Ukraine.

"The members of the Security Council called for a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines and for appropriate accountability," said a statement by Eugene Richard Gasana of Rwanda, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body for July.

"The members of the Security Council further stressed the need for all parties to grant immediate access to investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident," said the statement, issued after an emergency meeting of the council on the disaster.

The meeting began with the Security Council members' observing a minute of silence for the victims in the Thursday crash.

The council members also expressed in the statement their deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims, and to the people and governments of all those killed in the crash.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Boeing 777, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down Thursday in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers and crew aboard. There were no survivors.

The latest passenger list provided by the Malaysia Airlines included 189 Dutch people, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 9 Britons. >> More 

Malaysian plane crash shrouded in mystery, accusations

The crash of a Malaysian passenger plane in Ukraine on Thursday was shrouded in mystery of a deliberate attack, with Kiev trading accusations of blame with separatists and Moscow.

U.S. media reported that the Boeing 777 jet of the Malaysia Airlines, with 295 people onboard, was shot down by a missile when flying over eastern Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

A radar system saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft right before Malaysian airliner MH17 was shot down, CNN reported, citing an unnamed official.

A second system saw a heat signature at the time the airliner was hit, the official added. >> More

Malaysian plane down in Ukraine, 298 feared dead

A Malaysian flight crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, with all the 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board reportedly having been killed.

Three infants were on board Flight 17, raising the death toll to 298 people(283 passengers &15 crew), Malaysia Airlines says.

"A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, started descending 50 kilometers before entering Russian airspace, and was subsequently found burning on the ground on Ukrainian territory," Interfax news agency quoted an aviation source as saying.

The plane disappeared from radar at an altitude of 10,000 meters and then crashed near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, it said, citing Ukrainian law enforcement authorities. >> More