Speaking from the White House on Friday, President Obama said that evidence points to a surface to air missile being fired at, and bringing down  Malaysian Airllines Flight MH17 as it was transiting the rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam on Thursday.

The airliner was at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet when it was struck by a missile believed to have been fired from an area in the war-torn Donetsk region according to U.S. Intelligence officials. The aircraft had 298 people onboard at the time of the tragedy.

The aircraft fell from the sky in pieces moments after radar picked up a surface to air missile system starting up and begin tracking an aircraft. Another system picked up the heat signature as the missile struck the airliner. Videos taken in the area showed the airliner going down and bursting into a fireball as debris from the missile strike rained down behind the main wreckage.

The incident happened so quickly that no distress call was sent from the airliner.

Debris from the crash littered the area for miles around with bodies, passenger belongings and parts of the aircraft intermingled at the site.

The Ukrainian government reported intercepted phone conversations between separatists pointing to a Buk antiaircraft missile system manned by three Russian servicemen taking down the aircraft. The rebels denied the Ukrainian claim and blamed Ukraine’s government forces for the shoot-down.

Rebels this week have claimed responsibility for shooting down one Su-25 and damaging another as well as shooting down a An-26 transport plane. Social media posts by rebels also claimed to have shot down another An-26 transport plane in the same area and at the same time as the shooting down of the Malaysian Airliner. This has prompted officials to believe that rebels shot down the airliner mistaking it for an An-26 transport aircraft.

Calling the incident an “outrage of unspeakable proportions,” President Obama said, “This was a global tragedy, an Asian airliner was destroyed in European skies, filled with citizens from many countries. So there has to be a credible international investigation into what happened. The U.N. Security Council has endorsed this investigation, and we will hold all its members, including Russia, to their word.”

The president stated that a cease-fire must go into effect in order to facilitate an investigation into the downing. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a cease-fire as well on Friday, saying, “We proceed from the fact that peace should prevail on Ukrainian soil as soon as possible, that direct contacts between all parties to the conflict must be established as quickly as possible.”

Kiev quickly accused the rebels in the eastern region for the shoot-down, but Putin placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Ukraqinian government, blaming them for the renewed fighting after Kiev “renewed hostilities.”

While the crew of the aircraft were all Mayasian nationals, the airline released the nationalities of the passengers on board. They report that 154 of the passengers were Dutch, 27 Australian, 28 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, nine from the United  ingdom, four apiece from Germany and Belgium, three from the Philippines and one passenger was from Canada.

Other commercial airlines were immediately re-routed around Ukrainian airspace after the shoot-down.

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