Ukraine plane crash
A pro-Russian separatist looks at wreckage from the nose section of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane which was downed in eastern Ukraine Reuters

'Terrorist death-hunters' have reportedly been looting the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight M17.

The Malaysian Airlines flight was brought down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday (17 July) after being hit by a missile strike, as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The cornfield in which the Boeing 777 came down, is said to be strewn with the naked and dismembered bodies and the belongings of the 298 victims.

Government officials have reported that looters have descended on the distressing scene, stealing valuable goods from the victims.

Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Kiev government, said: "I have received information that terrorist death-hunters were collecting not only cash and jewellery of the crashed Boeing dead passengers, but also the credit cards of the victims.

"Currently, they might as well try to use them in Ukraine or pass them on to Russia. My humble request to the relatives of the victims to freeze their credit cards, so that they won't loose their assets to terrorists."

I have received information that terrorist death-hunters were collecting not only cash and jewellery of the crashed Boeing dead passengers, but also the credit cards of the victims.
- Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Kiev government,

Shocked locals reported seeing bodies falling out of the sky. A pensioner told how a corpse smashed though the roof of her house.

"There was a howling noise and everything started to rattle. Then objects started falling out of the sky,' said Irina Tipunova, 65. "And then I heard a roar and she landed in the kitchen."

Visiting the scene Vsevolod Petrovsky described the carnage that extends over an area of three kilometres.

"The plane broke up in the air, and the parts and human bodies are lying within a three kilometre area," he wrote.

"One body broke a hole in the thin roof of summer terrace in a private house. I got out of the car and immediately saw the naked body of a woman, covered by some leaves.

"There were many bodies without clothes around. Probably, their clothing was torn away after the loss of pressurization. Horrible."

He revealed that he had also seen the pilot's body still in the cockpit.

"I go further and see a hill made of the cockpit parts. The area is lit. The pilot's body is in this seat, with seat belt fastened, he is dressed in his clothes."

Makeshift white flags have been placed to mark where bodies lay in the fields, while others have been covered by polythene sheeting weighed down by stones.

malaysia airlines MH17 Ukraine
Passengers' belongings are strewn at the site of the crash of the Malaysia Airlines jet near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine AFP

Scattered midst the debris from the flight were the typical belongings of people embarking on what should have been the holiday of a lifetime or a longed for trip to be reunited with family abroad.

"Among the plane parts there were many parcels. Letters tied with a rope, books, old vinyl records, somebody's shoes. Children's caps with the Dutch national flag colours. Amazingly, almost all of these things are not destroyed," added Petrovsky.

The Ukrainian government has blamed rebels using Russian-supplied surface-to-air missiles for the tragedy, while the Kremlin has accused Kiev of failing to agree a ceasefire.

Tonight, Downing Street supported the claims issuing a statement to say it appears "increasingly likely that MH-17 was shot down by a separatist missile" fired from near Torez, an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

The Prime Minister David Cameron described the catastrophe, in which nine Britons died, as an 'absolutely appalling, shocking, horrific incident' that 'cannot be allowed to stand'.

The response came as the United Nations Security Council approved a statement calling for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation" into the crash.

The names of the 298 victims have been released through official flight passenger lists and tributes paid by relatives and friends.