Airliner downed over Ukraine

Makeshift white flags marked the spots where some bodies lay, while others, stripped bare by the force of the crash, were covered by polythene sheeting weighed down by stones. At least one was marked with a flower in remembrance.

The plane was brought down about 40 km (25 miles) from the border with Russia near the regional capital of Donetsk, an area that is a stronghold of rebels who have been fighting Ukrainian government forces and have brought down military aircraft.

Two U.S. officials said Washington strongly suspected the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was downed by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow.

In the image above, an armed pro-Russian separatist stands on part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

Leaders of the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic denied any involvement in the crash and said a Ukrainian air force jet had brought down the intercontinental flight.

Russia's Defence Ministry later pointed the finger at Ukrainian ground forces, saying it had picked up radar activity from a Ukrainian missile system south of Donetsk when the airliner was brought down, Russian media reported.

The Ukrainian security council said no missiles had been fired from its armouries. Officials also accused separatists of moving unused missiles into Russia after the incident.

The Ukrainian government released recordings it said were of Russian intelligence officers discussing the shooting down of a civilian airliner by rebels who may have mistaken it for a Ukrainian military plane.

Back in Amsterdam, where the Malaysian airliner took off, relatives of passengers who were aboard reacted to the tragedy.

More than half of the dead passengers, 189 people, were Dutch.

Twenty-nine were Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, nine British, four German, four Belgian, three Filipino, one Canadian, one New Zealand and 4 as yet unidentified. All 15 crew were Malaysian.

A woman, who said she believed her sister was aboard the crashed plane, sobs as she waits for more information at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where victims’ relatives gathered.

The loss of MH17 is the second devastating blow for Malaysia Airlines this year, following the mysterious disappearance of Flight MH370 in March, which vanished with 239 passengers and crew on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

In Malaysia, there was a sense of disbelief that another airline disaster could strike so soon.

"This is a tragic day, in what has already been a tragic year, for Malaysia," Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

People leave candles and flowers at the Dutch embassy for victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17.