A Malaysia Airlines aircraft with 298 people onboard has crashed in Ukraine.
Flight MH17, which was carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew, was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The B777 came down in Torez, near Shakhtersk, in the east of the country, about 25 miles from the Russian border.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed it had lost contact with the aircraft on Twitter
MAS has confirmed that it lost contact with the aircraft over Ukraine.
Some reports suggest it was shot down by a ground-to-air missile.
Flight MH17 departed Amsterdam at 1214, 14 minutes after its scheduled 1200 take-off, and was due to have arrived at Kuala Lumpur at 0610 local time tomorrow.
The incident comes as the search for Malaysia flight MS370 continues in the remote south Indian ocean off western Australia. That flight, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and with 239 people onboard, vanished on March 8.
Graham Smith