MH17: Malaysian PM assures full effort to ascertain cause of crash

“We must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone can be left unturned,” Razak told media persons at Sama-Sama Hotel.

He said the Ukrainian authorities believed that the plane was shot down. “At this early stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy. If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” he said.

Razak said the Malaysia Airlines had confirmed that the jet was Malaysia Airlines flight 17, which was on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-200.

The flight departed Amsterdam at 12.15 pm (local Malaysian time). It was scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6.10 am (local Malaysian time). It was carrying a total number of 295 people, comprising 280 passengers and 15 crew members.

“I have had several conversations with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. I have also spoken to the President of Ukraine. He has pledged that there will be a full, thorough and independent investigation, and Malaysian officials will be invited to take part. The Ukrainian president also confirmed that his government will negotiate with rebels in the east of the country, in order to establish a humanitarian corridor to the crash site,” the Malaysian PM said.

The Malysian PM said that he also received a call from President Obama. “He and I both agreed that the investigation must not be hindered in anyway,” Razak added.

Meanwhile, emergency operations centres have been established. In the last few hours, Malaysian officials have been in constant contact with their counterparts in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“And I will be speaking to a number of world leaders over the coming hours. An international team must have full access to the crash site. And no one should interfere with the area, or move any debris, including the black box,” Razak said, adding that “this is a tragic day, in what has already been a tragic year, for Malaysia”.

He said that the flight’s passengers and crew came from many different countries. “I cannot imagine what they must be going through at this painful time. As we work to understand what happened, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those onboard the flight. But today, regardless of nationality, we are all united in grief.” The PM said.

According to Razak’s statement, the aircraft’s flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. And International Air Transportation Association had stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions.

“Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the aircraft did not make a distress call,” he pointed out.

Thursday’s incident came months after a Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, which was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, went missing on Mar 8 this year somewhere over the Indian Ocean.