President Obama Confirms at Least One American Aboard Malaysia Airline Flight 17

Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, President Barack Obama described the “global tragedy” involving a Malaysian Airlines plane that was shot down as an “outrage of unspeakable proportion,” according to CNN. Obama confirmed that the missile that brought down the Boeing 777 jet was fired from a separatist-held location in the Ukraine, but stopped short of saying that it was fired by pro-Russian separatists, NBC News reported. The President demanded an immediate ceasefire in the eastern regions of Ukraine so that an international investigation could be conducted at the scene of the crash without any tampering of evidence, CNN reported. President Obama also identified at least one American citizen, Quinn Lucas Schansman, who was aboard Flight MH-17, according to CNN, who also held a dual Dutch citizenship. Further, the Chicago Tribune reported that Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie also released a statement that a student of the University, Karlijn Keijzer, was also aboard the downed plane. Keijzer, a member of the 2011 women’s rowing team and doctoral student in the school’s chemistry department, was from Amsterdam.