Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Malaysian Jetliner Explodes Over Ukraine; 298 Killed

Malaysian Jetliner Explodes Over Ukraine; 298 Killed

A Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 passenger airplane crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, July 17, killing all 298 aboard and prompting an angry reaction from leaders around the world. Officials indicate that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, ut there’s no current determination of who was responsible. The Obama administration isn’t convinced that Ukraine had the ability or the motive to shoot the plane down, and Ukrainian officials insist that the plane was targeted by pro-Russian separatist terrorists.

A journalist who was interviewing witnesses of the incident told CNN that “the plane kind of exploded in the air, and everything rained down in bits and pieces, the plane itself, the people inside.” The wreckage stretched for miles, and air traffic details indicate that the plane was traveling at about 33,000 feet heading for Kuala Lumpur when it was hit. According to the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, the pilot never asked for assistance or made a distress call.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Friday morning. Global political leadership is demanding an international, independent and immediate investigation of the crash, and accusations are flying as to who is responsible. Russian president Vladimir Putin commented on television that the “tragedy would not have happened if there had been peace on that land, or in any case, if military operations in southeastern Ukraine had not been renewed.”

“Without a doubt the government of the territory on which it happened bears responsibility for this frightening tragedy,” added Putin.