Hours after Flight MH17 was shot down on Thursday SIA posted Facebook and Twitter updates saying its own flights were not using Ukrainian airspace
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Singapore Airlines (SIA) has apologised for social media posts it made following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
Hours after the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board, SIA posted Facebook and Twitter updates saying its own flights were not using Ukrainian airspace.
The move led to angry responses online, with many criticising the company for not offering condolences to the victims' families.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesman from SIA said, 'We are aware of that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some.'
The statement added that SIA had received many requests from customers seeking information about routes for their upcoming flights, however.
'We recognise that the information could have been better communicated and we sincerely apologise if it had offended our customers and anyone else in the online community.'
Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron has warned Moscow that it must shoulder the blame for the crash if is proved the plane was brought down by pro-Russian rebels.
Reuters
Calls for a full and impartial investigation into what caused the tragedy has so far met with a cold response from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Cameron said: 'If this is the case then we must be clear what it means: this is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them,' he wrote in The Sunday Times newspaper.
Cameron also criticised fellow members of the European Union for being slow to act against the Kremlin.
'For too long there has been a reluctance on the part of too many European countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern Ukraine,' he wrote.
'It is time to make our power, influence and resources count. Our economies are strong and growing in strength.
'And yet we sometimes behave as if we need Russia more than Russia needs us.'
The identities of all 10 UK victims of the Malaysia plane crash are now known after the names of the final two victims were revealed.
John Allen and Andrew Hoare were both killed when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine.
The other eight are John Adler, 63, Liam Sweeney, 28, student Richard Mayne, WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas , Ben Pocock, helicopter pilot Cameron Dalziel, 43, Robert Ayley and Stephen Anderson.
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Mr Allen was described as a 'much-loved colleague' by his friends at international law firm NautaDutilh, who said they were 'shocked' by his death alongside his wife and their sons.
A tribute by the firm, which has offices in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Luxembourg, New York and Rotterdam, reads: 'We were shocked to learn that our much-loved colleague John Allen, his wife Sandra and their sons Christopher, Julian and Ian were on board the Malaysia Airlines flight en route to Kuala Lumpur that crashed in the Ukraine on July 17.
'Our thoughts are with John's family and his friends in and outside the office.'
The tribute adds: 'He was a person with many talents, and in addition to his professional contribution to our firm he generously shared his musical and athletic abilities with us as well.
'All of us who had the privilege of working with John during his 18 years at NautaDutilh came to know him as a kind, down-to-earth and humorous man and many of us have also lost a friend. He will be dearly missed.'
Mr Allen joined the firm in 1996 and became a partner in 2007 where he played a key role in building the intellectual property practice group.
Malaysia Airlines says it has now identified the nationalities of 298 people who were on board the doomed flight.
There are also 193 victims from the Netherlands, 43 from Malaysia including 15 crew and two infants and another 27 from Australia.
The dead also include 12 people from Indonesia including one infant, four people from Germany, four people from Belgium, three from the Philippines plus a Canadian and a New Zealander.
Flight MH17 was said by eyewitnesses to have 'exploded' after it was reportedly shot down by a ground-to-air missile.
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