Update: The Ukrainian government has released a statement calling the incident a terrorist act and lays the blame at Russia's feet, according to The Telegraph, which is live updating. Ukraine claims not to have any missile defenses of that calibre in the area.

Reuters reports via Twitter that 23 U.S. citizens were aboard.

And, as of now, four French nationals.

An amateur video of the crash has surfaced on YouTube.

A Malaysia Airlines airliner has crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Authorities are currently investigating the crash but it is suspected to have been shot down.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 lost contact over Ukraine near the border with Russia. The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. The airline confirmed on Twitter that it had lost contact with the plane.

The Boeing 777 was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew members, according to the Malay Mail Online. Reuters is reporting a ground-to-air missile shot down the plane near the rebel-held city of Donetsk. A Ukrainian Interior Minister advisor, Anton Gerashchenko, said on Facebook that the plane was shot down by a Soviet-made missile, according to the AP.

“A civilian airliner travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has just been shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft system ... 280 passengers and 15 crew have been killed,” he said, according to Reuters.

The plane was shot down while flying at around 33,000 feet, a normal cruising altitude for an airliner, according to Reuters, and came down at the town of Torez, some 25 miles from the Russian border. Reuters reporters in the area are reporting seeing the burning wreckage and multiple bodies on the grown via Twitter.

The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for an immediate investigation into the incident, according to Mashable. He has called for the cration of a commission comprised of the ICAO (Ukrainian Aviation Security Training Centre) and other international organizations.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Tun Razak, expressed his feelings on Twitter and has announced the launching of an investigation.

A video obtained by The Telegraph depics a large plume of smoke rising from the ground near where the plane crashed.