US INTEL CONFIRMS Malaysia Flight 17 shot down, 295 killed

BREAKING NEWS July 17, 2014

GRABOVO, Ukraine — A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane Flight 17 carrying 298 people was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft.

Earlier reports were unclear as to the reason for the Malaysia crash, and we continued to follow mixed reports around the world. By 10:00 PM EDT, we  received the confirmed  report that  “Parts of the wreckage and bodies are spread out over several miles along the flight path. Aviation and fire experts will examine the aircraft’s wreckage for residue of missile propellant and evidence the jet was punctured by a high-speed impact missile.”Bob Orr of CBS

10:09 PM EDT

The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn’t pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr. On another note, when asked by Charlie Rose about responding to potential Russian involvement in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, Hillary Clinton shifted the focus to Europe. The former Secretary of State laid out a three-step approach for European action, including tougher sanctions for the EU and stated “The USA has been very clear on our approach to Russia. The EU needs to put Putin on notice”.

An earlier tally of 295 dead was raised to include three infants in an official list of passengers released by Malaysia Airlines. The bulk of the passengers were from the Netherlands — 154 people. Next highest was 43 from Malaysia and 27 from Australia. It was not immediately known whether any Americans were on board.

“Several prominent AIDS researchers were also on board, the International AIDS Society said in a statement. They were traveling to Melbourne, Australia, for the 20th International AIDS Conference.”

The confirmed list included:

• Netherlands – 154 nationals
• Malaysia – 43, including 15 crew and 2 infants
• Australia – 27
• Indonesia – 12, including 1 infant
• United Kingdom – 9
• Germany – 4
• Belgium – 4
• Philippines – 3
• Canada – 1

CNN Confirmed it was a missile attack “The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit.”

 

U.S. military intelligence strongly suspects a surface-to-air missile brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it flew at 33,000 feet over the war zone in eastern Ukraine, CBS News has learned.

Wreckage and bodies were spread over several miles along the flight path, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reported. That would be consistent with the plane being ripped apart by aerodynamic forces after the aircraft was penetrated by a high explosive projectile.