LIVE: Crashed MH17 passenger nationalities released

Malaysia Airlines says it was notified by Ukrainian authorities that they lost contact with the plane when it was 30km from the Tamak waypoint, approximately 50km from the Ukraine-Russia border.

The plane-tracking service FlightAware.com said the last reported position for MH17 was at 33 000ft just west of Ukraine's border with Russia. Ukrainian authorities reported the crash, and an Associated Press journalist found the site near a village held by pro-Russia fighters 40km from the Russia border.

The reporter said the aircraft appeared to have broken up before impact. Burning wreckage and the belongings of passengers were strewn over a wide area - AP