Hrabove : A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane (MH17) carrying 298 people was shot down in war-torn eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft.

As plumes of black smoke rose up near a rebel-held village of Hrabove, an Associated Press journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border.

The village is under the control of pro-Russia separatists and the area has seen severe fighting between the two sides in recent days. Rebel fighters at the scene of the wreckage had piled up victims’ possessions into heaps and threatened reporters attempting to film footage.

The insurrection started after pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was driven from office in February by a protest movement among people wanting closer ties with the European Union instead of Russia.