A Malaysian airliner with 295 people on board has crashed in Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, amid allegations it was shot down.
Dozens of bodies are scattered around what is believed to be the wreckage of the jet near the village of Grabovo, a Reuters correspondent reports.
Both the Ukrainian government and rebels have denied shooting it down in the region close to the Russian border.
Flight MH17 had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.
[video=youtube;qdPnzdCRpoM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPnzdCRpoM[/video]
Pro-Russian separatist rebels have been fighting government forces in the region.
line
Analysis: Jonathan Beale, BBC News
A defence expert has told the BBC that shooting down a plane at 10,000m (9.7 miles) would have required a long- range surface-to-air missile - possibly guided by radar.
That suggests it is unlikely it could have been downed by a portable air defence missile, or Manpad, which has a much shorter range.
The only other possibility is for an aircraft at that height to be downed by a fighter carrying air-to-air missiles.
The US will have access to satellite imagery that should be able to identify ultra-violet plumes if a long-range surface-to-air missile was fired.
line
A number of Ukrainian military planes have been shot down by missiles in recent weeks. Ukraine has accused Russia's military of supplying advanced missiles to the rebels.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly said he was launching an immediate inquiry into the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his US counterpart, Barack Obama, by phone about the crash, the Kremlin said in a statement (in Russian).
"The Russian leader informed the US president about an air-traffic controllers' report that came just before their phone conversation that a Malaysian plane crashed in Ukraine," the statement said.
'Third downing'
The plane fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.
More here.
Dozens of bodies are scattered around what is believed to be the wreckage of the jet near the village of Grabovo, a Reuters correspondent reports.
Both the Ukrainian government and rebels have denied shooting it down in the region close to the Russian border.
Flight MH17 had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.
[video=youtube;qdPnzdCRpoM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdPnzdCRpoM[/video]
Pro-Russian separatist rebels have been fighting government forces in the region.
line
Analysis: Jonathan Beale, BBC News
A defence expert has told the BBC that shooting down a plane at 10,000m (9.7 miles) would have required a long- range surface-to-air missile - possibly guided by radar.
That suggests it is unlikely it could have been downed by a portable air defence missile, or Manpad, which has a much shorter range.
The only other possibility is for an aircraft at that height to be downed by a fighter carrying air-to-air missiles.
The US will have access to satellite imagery that should be able to identify ultra-violet plumes if a long-range surface-to-air missile was fired.
line
A number of Ukrainian military planes have been shot down by missiles in recent weeks. Ukraine has accused Russia's military of supplying advanced missiles to the rebels.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly said he was launching an immediate inquiry into the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his US counterpart, Barack Obama, by phone about the crash, the Kremlin said in a statement (in Russian).
"The Russian leader informed the US president about an air-traffic controllers' report that came just before their phone conversation that a Malaysian plane crashed in Ukraine," the statement said.
'Third downing'
The plane fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.
More here.