An Emergencies Ministry member works at putting out a fire at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. The Malaysian airliner MH17 was brought down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides. Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev
Malaysia's minister of youth and sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, tweeted Friday to tell journalists not to blame Malaysia Airlines for the MH17 crash in Ukraine.
"It’s not the route selection that resulted in these deaths. It’s some terrorist deciding to shoot our plane that caused these deaths. #MH17," he wrote on Twitter.
It's not the route selection that resulted in these deaths. It's some terrorist deciding to shoot our plane that caused these deaths. #MH17
U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday at a news conference that "we don't know exactly what happened" and "we don't want to get ahead of the facts," but that the "evidence indicates that the plane was shot down." He also said the pro-Russian rebel violence in Ukraine is facilitated in large part by Russia.
Jamaluddin tweeted after Malaysia's transport minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, concluded a news conference.
"Since it’s an approved route, it’s safe," Liow said at the conference, as reported by Malay Mail Online. "I want to stress that the route was an approved path flown for decades by Malaysia Airlines and other aircraft."
"If we don’t fight this narrative with facts, this will define the international news cycle. Malaysia an easy scapegoat. Not on. #MH17,” Khairy tweeted.
If we don't fight this narrative with facts, this will define the international news cycle. Malaysia an easy scapegoat. Not on. #MH17
