A passenger jet has reportedly crashed in eastern Ukraine in an area where separatist rebels have been engaging Ukrainian military forces in recent weeks. The Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko said 280 passengers and 15 crew were on board. The Malaysia Airlines plane, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, apparently crashed near the town of Snizhe, according to a report from Interfax news agency which could not immediately be confirmed. Other reports suggested it had crashed close to the nearby town of Torez. Malaysia Airlines said via its Twitter feed: "Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow." A source in the Russian aviation industry told Reuters that the plane did not enter Russian airspace when expected and had crashed in eastern Ukraine. Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, wrote on his Facebook page that the plane had crashed in Uk