More than 300 persons have been reported dead after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine, on the border with Russia.

Initial reports had said that the commercial flight had 295 people onboard but a Reuters tweet just put the death toll at more than 300, including 23 U.S. citizens.

Ukraine’s interior ministry says the plane was shot down by a missile.

There are reports of bodies and burning wreckage on the ground.

Malaysia Airlines says contact with Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was lost at 1415 GMT.

The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels have accused each other of shooting down the plane; both sides say they were not responsible.