Both sides in the Ukraine conflict are accusing the other of shooting down the Malaysian airliner which crashed in eastern Ukraine.
The United States believes a surface-to-air missile hit the plane as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur early Friday morning.
It came down in farmland near the town of Shaktarsk in the Donetsk areas, a stronghold of pro-Russian rebels near the border with Russia. All 298 on board have been killed.
An emergency services rescue worker has reported that at least 100 bodies have so far been found at the scene, with debris scattered across an area 15 kilometres in diameter.
One American official said Washington strongly suspects the missile was fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow and there is no evidence to suggest it came from Ukrainian forces.
The pro-Russian rebels have been fighting government forces in the region where the plane crashed and Ukraine officials have accused the rebels of shooting it down.
The separatists are believed to have downed two Ukrainian military planes over the region in recent days but they have denied shooting flight MH17, which had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Kiev bears full responsibility for the crash, saying Ukraine's crackdown on separatist rebels stoked tensions that led to the disaster.
The smouldering wreckage in rebel-held eastern Ukraine. Photo: AFP
Ukraine's president called the loss of the plane an "act of terrorism".
A rebel leader, Aleksandr Borodai, blamed the Ukrainian air force for shooting down the airliner, but Ukraine categorically denied it was responsible.
Black day for the Netherlands
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said it's a black day for his country and the whole of the Netherlands is in mourning.
More than half the passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were Dutch. The plane was four hours into a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it disappeared from radar early Friday morning.
A woman lights a candle in front of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo: AFP
Mark Rutte has ordered that flags fly at half-mast on government buildings across the country for what he said might be the worst air disaster in Dutch history.
Mr Rutte said a beautiful summer's day had ended in the blackest possible way.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam. Photo: AFP
Mr Rutte said a beautiful summer's day had ended in the blackest possible way.
Flight MH17 was operating as a code-share flight with the Dutch flagship carrier KLM.
The Dutch embassy in Wellington said it has been fielding calls from New Zealanders and Dutch nationals worried about friends and relatives who might have been on board.
The embassy is currently between ambassadors, but the temporary head, Stefan Hulisz said people were very concerned.
"We've had a number of people calling us of Dutch descent and also New Zealanders with relations in the Netherlands. So we had quite a number of phone calls in the last few hours."
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak spoke of his shock and said he was launching an immediate inquiry into the crash.
Relatives of a passenger who was on board flight MH17 react over the news at Kuala Lumpur Airport Photo: AFP
The United States Vice-President, Joe Biden, said the plane was deliberately shot down.
It is the second disaster suffered by Malaysia Airlines this year.
Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Malaysia to China in March and still has not been found.
A pro-Russian separatist stands on part of the plane debris. Photo: REUTERS
Crash site
The plane fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk.
The crash site. Photo: AFP
Broken pieces of the wings were marked with blue and red paint - the same colours as the emblem of the Malaysian airline, the agency said.
"I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang and shots," a witness called Vladimir told Reuters.
"Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke."
A separatist rebel from nearby Krasnyi Luch who gave his name as Sergei said: "From my balcony I saw a plane begin to descend from a great height and then heard two explosions."
An international aviation analyst, Andrew Charlton, told Nine to Noon it would take remarkably sophisticated weaponry to bring a commercial plane down at the height at which it would normally fly over a conflict zone.
But he said it was normal for commercial airlines to fly through conflict zones, and major airlines had flown over Afghanistan and Iraq for many years.
