A piece of wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is pictured on July 18, 2014 in Shaktarsk, the day after it crashed. AFP PHOTO / DOMINIQUE FAGET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Friday demanded a full, independent and international investigation into the apparent shooting down of a Malaysian jet over Ukraine that killed 298 people on board.

Council members stood for a minute of silence in memory of those who lost their lives in Thursday’s crash over rebel-held eastern Ukraine, at the start of an emergency meeting on the disaster.

“The members of the Security Council called for a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines and for appropriate accountability,” the council said.

“The members of the Security Council further stressed the need for all parties to grant immediate access to investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident,” it added.

The Council expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and governments of all those killed in the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The Security Council added to mounting global demands to find those responsible for apparently shooting down the Boeing 777.

Local emergency crews picked through terrible carnage at the crash site, placing dozens of sticks with white rags in the ground to mark where bodies lay.

The jet came down in corn fields in the separatist-held region, spraying debris and body parts for kilometers around, with the United States claiming it was shot down in a missile attack.