What we know: Malaysia Airlines jet shot down by Russian-made rocket, 298 dead including nine Britons

Nine Britons are among the casualties after the Malaysia Airlines plane was 'shot down in an act of terrorism'

16:29 18 July 2014

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down as it flew near airspace deemed unsafe for passenger jets. Among the 298 people on board were nine Britons and 15 crew members. No one has survived the attack.

According to reports, the plane, which was bound from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 33,000 feet when contact was lost.

Interfax news agency was told by an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry that the Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air-missile. Military spokesmen in Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the act.

Residents from the area claim to have seen bodies flying through the air 'like rags' after the missile hit, according to the Daily Mail.

The plane was carrying 154 Dutch, 45 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, three Filipinos, and one Canadian. Among the casualties are three infants while the nationalities of the remaining 41 passengers have yet to be verified.  At least 80 were children.

It has been speculated that the pilot veered slightly off course after 'feeling uncomfortable' on his original path, some news outlets relayed.

US President Barack Obama has told the Netherlands Prime Minister that Washington would support a "prompt, full, credible and unimpeded international investigation" into the disaster.

Meanwhile, the Interfax news agency has confirmed that the plane’s black box flight recorder has been recovered.

President Petro Poroshenko condemned the attack and called it an “act of terrorism.”