80 children among 295 passengers killed on Malaysia Airlines flight

Up to 80 children were feared to be among the 295 passengers and crew who died after the Malaysian Airways plane was shot down over Ukraine yesterday afternoon.

Flight MH17 took off from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam at lunchtime bound for Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. There were 280 passengers and 15 crew on board.

Just over two hours later, as it was flying at a cruising height of 33,000 feet, it was apparently shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine near the rebel-held village of Granobo, 40km from the Russian border and approximately 500km from Kiev.