Malaysia's leader has called the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine "deeply shocking".
The plane, carrying 298 people, crashed in rebel-held territory near the Russian border.
Both sides in Ukraine's civil conflict have accused the other of shooting it down with a missile.
The Boeing 777, with the call sign MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
It is the second disaster suffered by Malaysia Airlines this year. Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Malaysia to China in March and has still not been found.
In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said MH17 was carrying at least 154 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 12 Indonesians and nine Britons.
Other passengers came from Germany, Belgium, the Philippines and Canada, with the nationalities of 41 people not yet confirmed.
Several of those on board - it is not yet clear how many - were heading for a major international conference on HIV/Aids in Melbourne, Australian officials said.
Other airlines have announced they are now setting flight paths to avoid eastern Ukraine, while Ukraine authorities have declared the area a no-fly zone, according to European flight safety body Eurocontrol.
Multiple reports from Washington cite unnamed US officials as saying they believe the plane, which had reportedly been flying at more than 30,000 feet (10,000m), must have been brought down by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile.
The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on the disaster on Friday morning in New York.
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