According to report from U.S. officials, it has been confirmed that the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane that crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border yesterday was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.
The origin of the missile remains unclear, and both government officials and pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied responsibility.
It has been revealed that there were 298 people on board, 283 passengers, including 3 infants, and 15 crew members. Ukrainian authorities told U.S. Embassy officials that everyone on the plane was "believed dead" and that the aircraft debris was scattered over a 10-mile swath of land.
Malaysia Airlines posted a list of passenger nationalities on its website for the 298 passengers and crew: 154 Dutch, 27 Australian, 43 Malaysian (including 15 crew and two infants), 12 Indonesian (including one infant), 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino and one Canadian. The airline said it did not yet know the nationalities of the remaining 41 passengers
Head of Ukraine's emergency services in an interview with reuteurs explained that search efforts at the scene of the crash were being hampered by "armed terrorists."
The plane crashed near a village called Hrabov in the Donetsk region, an area that has seen clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.
Prior to Thursday's crash, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, along with several other countries, had warned pilots not to fly over parts of Ukraine.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama directed his national security team to be "in close touch" with Ukrainian authorities.
It has been revealed that the White House is doing all it can to find out if there are any American Citizens.
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