Flight MH17 shot down in Ukraine: how newspaper front pages recorded disaster

Posted by GH at 00:25

The world has reacted with shock and anger to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine.

While European and Malaysian papers mostly focused on the loss of lives, others did not hold back in pointing the finger at who they thought was responsible for the disaster.

The Netherlands had 154 citizens on board the plane, which took off from Amsterdam. The country's daily paper De Telegraaf declared "Terrorist attack" across its front page, with a picture of the devastation on the ground.

The Sun in London took no time in declaring who it thought was to blame, with the headline "Putin's missile" over a picture of the wreckage.

Initial reports said 295 passengers and crew were on board the plane. Malaysia Airlines then updated the figures to 283 passengers and 15 crew.

Also in Britain, the Daily Mail declared "There'll be hell to pay".

And the Daily Mirror reported "Slaughter at 33,000 feet" - a similar line to The Guardian's "Murder in the sky".

Dutch paper NRC Next took the most sombre tone - a stark front-page photograph, accompanied by only a few words, to symbolise the loss of 298 lives.