【突发】MH

A preliminary investigation has confirmed that at least one person from Hong Kong was aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which crashed in eastern Ukraine last night.

A family member of that person holding a foreign passport was also on the plane.

They were among 298 passengers and 15 crew members, and it appears there are no survivors.

It also appears the plane's downing was no accident, with reports indicating a surface-to-air missile struck the flight and destroyed it mid-air.

At this point, it's unclear who is responsible for firing that missile.

Ukraine's government and separatist forces in eastern Ukraine have both denied responsibility for the attack on the civilian flight.

The flight was on route to Kuala Lumpur.

Authorities are still working on confirming the identities of some 40 passengers on the doomed flight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pinning the blame on the heightened tension in eastern Ukraine for ultimately leading to the Malaysia airlines crash.
At the same time, Putin has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

Ukraine's security service has produced, what it claims, are two intercepted telephone conversations said to show the rebels are responsible for bringing down the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.

In the first call, a rebel commander reportedly tells a Russian military intelligence officer that rebel forces have shot down a plane.

In the second call, two rebel fighters - one of them reportedly at the scene of the crash - tells the other the downed plane is "a civilian plane."

Neither recording can be independently verified.

Both the Ukrainian government and the separatists have denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft.


In a related development, Malaysia Airlines says all its European flights will be taking alternative routes to avoid eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed U.S. airlines had voluntarily agreed not to fly in the airspace near the Ukraine-Russian border.
Other carriers, including Germany's Lufthansa and Air France, have also made decision to avoid flying over Ukraine.