18/07/2014

Nine Britons On Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

Malaysia Airlines have reported that at least nine Britons were on board flight MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine while en-route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

298 people were onboard the Boeing 777 when it crashed between Krasni Luch, in Luhansk region, and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk - 50km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

The Prime Minister is to hold a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee to discuss the situation.

Glenn Thomas (49), a press officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO), has been confirmed among the dead.

Confirming that Mr Thomas was on the flight, WHO said that he had been travelling from Australia to attend an international conference on Aids.

Confirming his death, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said: "For the time being we would like to give his family time to grieve.

"We have lost a wonderful person and a great professional. Our hearts are broken. We are all in shock."

(MH/IT)

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