Washington: Shocked by the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, the White House today called for "a full, credible and unimpeded international investigation" into the tragic incident that killed nearly 300 people on board.

A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a fire, on July 17, 2014, amongst the wreckages of the Malaysian airliner carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine. Pic/AFP