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[PHOTOS] MH17 DAY 1: Gripping Scenes From The First 24 Hours

"This is a tragic day, in what has already been a tragic year, for Malaysia," Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Cover image via twimg.com

The news of MH17 crashing near the Ukrainian-Russian border first broke on social media at about 10.30pm on Thursday, 17 July 2014

Malaysia Airlines shot down on Ukraine-Russia border. In this Press Association graphic the earlier figure of 295 was given before the airline revised the figure to 298.

Image via news.com.au

The plane was believed to have been mistakenly shot down by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine using a surface-to-air missile

Flames among the wreckage.

Image via news.com.au

The aircraft fell from more than 30,000 feet

Two people comfort each other after finding out that their relatives were on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Image via mshcdn.com

US Vice President Joe Biden says it was “not an accident” and “blown out of the sky"

An Emergencies Ministry member works at putting out a fire at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014.

Image via wordpress.com

Self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" Alexander Borodai visited the crash cite

Self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" Alexander Borodai (C) stands as he arrives on the site of the crash.

Image via mshcdn.com

Residents spoke of bodies falling from the sky, looking like rags or clumps of ash before the planes fell onto a large wheat field

The debris of a jet engine from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is seen near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk.

Image via mshcdn.com

Belongings of the passengers were scattered through the grass: books, toiletries, passports, luggage...

Luggage from the debris collected near the crash site.

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At the crash site, bodies were strewn about in the wreck of the Boeing 777

People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo

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Many of the victims were still wearing their seat belts, attached to pieces of the plane

The wreckage of the Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed on July 17, 2014 near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine.

Image via wordpress.com

Malaysia Airlines first reported that 280 people were onboard MH17, but later increased the count to 298 people, including 15 crew

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Majority of the passengers onboard MH17 were from the Netherlands

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gives a short statement to the press at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam on July 17, 2014 regarding the Malaysia Airlines plane traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that crashed in the Ukraine.

Image via mshcdn.com

Hours after the news broke, the people of Kiev held a vigil for the victims of MH17 near the Dutch embassy

A woman holds a placard reading "Putin is a killer!" near candles and flowers placed in front of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kiev.

Image via mshcdn.com

Grieving relatives of those onboard Malaysia Airlines gathered at KLIA demanding for news about their family members

Relatives of people onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam cry outside the family holding area at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on July 18, 2014.

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Pilots around the world were advised to avoid Ukrainian airspace and the area where MH17 was shot down

Astounding map of the airspace over Ukraine after #MH17 was downed.

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Both Ukraine and Russia are denying responsibility for shooting down MH17

People walk amongst the debris of the crash site.

Image via mshcdn.com

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says no stones will be left unturned in the investigation

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (C) pauses before he leaves the press conference after delivering a statement regarding the ill fated flight MH17 on July 18, 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Image via mshcdn.com

"Act of terrorism", "terrible tragedy", "unspeakable crime", these are some of the words leaders around the world have used to describe the downing of MH17

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