A Number Of Passengers On The Downed Malaysia Airliner Were Headed To International AIDS Conference

REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev Emergencies Ministry members walk at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014. The Malaysian airliner Flight MH-17 was brought down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides.

A number of people who were headed to the International Aids Conference in Melbourne, Australia were onboard the Malaysia Airlines plane when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine, the conference announced on its website.

"The International AIDS Society (IAS) today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today," the society wrote. "At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy."

The flight carrying 298 people out of Amsterdam was headed to Kuala Lumpur, with some of the passengers planning to connect for a follow-on flight to Australia. As the flight passed over territory held by pro-Russian separatists, it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Dr. Joep Lange, A leading HIV researcher from the Netherlands, was reportedly onboard according to the Daily Mail. His death was not yet confirmed, but many took to Twitter to express condolences:

Glen Raymond Thomas, a spokesman for the World Health Organization based in Geneva, was also reportedly onboard.

More to come...