Latest Developments:

  • Flights over eastern Ukraine barred
  • MAS shares dive, three-week low
  • Donetsk allows access to crash site
  • MAS says all European flights to take alternative route
  • MAS now says 298 onboard – 43 Malaysians

Europe Reroutes Flights

9.46am: The Guardian reports that Flight MH17 was cruising 300metres above restricted airspace when it was believed to have been struck down by a missile. Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control body, says the passenger jet was travelling “open” airspace at 33,000 feet. However, it claims this was still still within range of “sophisticated ground-to-air weaponry”. The Guardian further quotes the agency as saying all flights in eastern Ukraine have been barred from the area. The report also reveals that British airlines obtained the “all-clear” to fly overhead the same area a month ago, as “operations were ‘normal’ in the region”. “A notice posted by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on 14 June urged carriers to avoid overflying Crimea and parts of southern Ukraine a month ago due to safety concerns, but they were not ordered to avoid the rest of the country,” reports The Guardian.

9.30am: Malaysian Aids Council’s Joselyn Pang pays tribute to International Aids Society (IAS) former president Joep Lange, one of 298 that lost their live on board Flight MH17. “I remember a very soft-spoken gentleman, kind and strong in his conviction to fight for treatment access for people living with HIV. A great loss to his family, friends and peers,” says Pang, who heads the council’s Global Fund Project Management unit. “I am sitting down in silence, tears, digesting the news. And a silent moment to all the lives, who somehow made a difference and impact to others, no less than the person I know.”

 

MAS Shares Tumble

9.10am: MAS shares tumble today following the news of the MH17 crash yesterday. Reuters reports that share slid 15.6 per cent, a three-week low. “Shares of the national carrier were trading at 19 sen per share at 101 GMT, while the broader index was down 0.5 per cent,” it reports.

8.53am: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) says it will only release the passenger manifest once the families have been informed. “We are in the process of notifying #MH17 next-of-kin. Once all have been notified, the passenger’s manifest will be released,” reads its tweet.

Pocket News