U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has said that the Malaysian Airlines flight which crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border was "apparently shot down" and "blown out of the sky."
Biden, speaking at a conference in Detroit on July 17, said the Malaysian liner with 295 people on board, "Apparently had been shot down. Shot down. Not an accident. Blown out of the sky."
The remarks were more specific than President Barack Obama's comments earlier in the day, who said that the crash "looks like it may be a terrible tragedy."
Separately, unnamed U.S. officials said intelligence analysts "strongly believe" a surface-to-air missile downed the plane, but added that the origin of the missile was unclear.