UNITED NATIONSUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Thursday for a full international investigation of the Malaysia Airlines disaster in east Ukraine.

“There is clearly a need for a full, transparent and international investigation,” Ban told reporters.

An official from the carrier confirmed that there were 298 people, including 154 Dutch nationals, on board the Malaysia Airlines flight that crashed in rebel-held east Ukraine on Thursday,.

“There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the plane,” Huib Gorter, Malaysian Airlines vice president, told reporters at a press conference at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport from where the doomed flight had taken off. “154 were Dutch, 27 were Australian,” he added.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s premier said the Malaysia Airlines flight thought to have been shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine was on a flight path that had been deemed safe, Friday.

“The aircraft’s flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation,” Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters.

“And International Air Transportation Association has stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions,” he added.