- Malaysia Airlines jet MH17 shot down: 27 Aussies among 295 killed
- It's astonishing: Expert says Malaysia flight MH17 shouldn't have been flying over Ukraine
Malaysia Airlines says its Boeing 777 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, carrying 283 passengers, including three infants of different nationalities, and 15 crew members.
The airliner has confirmed in a statement it lost contact with the MH17 flight when the plane was 30km from Tamak waypoint, about 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.
Malaysia Airlines says there were 154 Dutch nationals and 27 Australians on board.
Nine Australian passengers were from Queensland, one from New South Wales and the Prime Minister’s office has said that one passenger was from Canberra.
The latest reports also detail nine victims from Victoria and seven from Western Australia.
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Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said there had also been reports of permanent Australian residents that may have been on board, travelling under passports from their country of origin.
Mr Napthine could not confirm the number of passengers in question, but said it was likely that the number was "relatively small".
Other passengers included 43 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, nine from the UK, four each from Belgium and Germany and one from Canada.
41 victims remain unidentified.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak says he has called for a full inquiry into the crash, the second disaster for Malaysia Airlines this year.
Malaysia Airlines said flight MH17 disappeared from radar screens in eastern Ukraine at around 0015 AEST.
United States officials say the plane has been shot down by a surface-to-air missile, but it is unclear who fired the weapon.
European flight safety body, Eurocontrol, says Ukrainian authorities have now declared the east of the country a no-fly zone
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says Australian officials, including a consular crisis specialist, are preparing to travel to Kiev to assist local authorities with the recovery of the Australians involved in the crash.
Meantime, the government has called for the United Nations Security Council to make a binding resolution to establish a full and impartial investigation into the suspected surface-to-air missile attack.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has addressed Parliament, describing it as a “grim day” for Australia and the world.
"We owe it to the families of the dead to find out exactly what has happened and exactly who is responsible," he said.
"As things stand, this looks less like an accident than a crime. If so, the perpetrators must be brought to justice."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told the Parliament that Labor would assist Mr Abbott and his government, saying now is a time for "national unity".
