LONDON, July 18 — Britain today urged an “independent, international, credible” investigation into the apparent downing of a Malaysian passenger plane in Ukraine, which killed 298 people.

Prime Minister David Cameron also urged swift action to bring those responsible to justice after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed yesterday, with nine Britons among those on board.

Kiev has accused pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukrainian forces in the east of the country of shooting it down in a “terrorist act”.

Cameron chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, and held calls with leaders including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“The priority must be an independent, international, credible investigation to establish precisely what has happened,” a Downing Street spokesman said, following the calls.

“The international community must make clear to the Russian separatists who are in control of the local area that safe and unhindered access must be given to the investigation team.”

British police are set to help with the recovery of bodies from the crash scene.

Britain has also offered to send air accident investigators to support an international team trying to get to the site.

National Security Adviser Kim Darroch was holding a fresh meeting on Britain’s response to the crisis today.

Earlier, Cameron urged all governments to cooperate “so that we can get to the bottom of what happened in this absolutely dreadful loss of life”.

“If, as seems possible, this was brought down then those responsible must be brought to account and we must lose no time in doing that,” he said.

“It is an absolutely shocking incident and cannot be allowed to stand.” — AFP