A Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people has crashed in east Ukraine on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, amid allegations it was shot down.

The Malaysian airliner which came down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday was flying normally without problems until it disappeared from radar, the head of Ukraine’s airspace regulatory body said.

“The flight was taking place normally … There had been no word of any problems from the crew,” Dmytro Babeychuk said at a news conference.

The Boeing 777-200 9M-MRD was “shot down” by “terrorists” operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system, according to a Facebook post from Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.

The plane went down near the town on Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to the post, as it flew at about 10,000 meters (32,000 feet).

Bodies are scattered around what is believed to be the wreckage of the jet near the village of Grabovo, which is under the control of separatist rebels.

Flight MH17 had been due to enter Russian airspace when contact was lost.

Ukraine’s president called the loss of the plane an “act of terrorism” as the rebels denied shooting it down.

The separatists are believed to have shot down two Ukrainian military planes over the region in recent days.