The airliner, flight MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when communications were lost.

“Malaysia Airlines confirms it received notification from Ukrainian ATC (air traffic control) that it had lost contact with flight MH17 ... approximately 50 km (31 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border,” the airline said on its Twitter account.

Reports from the ground in eastern Ukraine claim the plane was shot down, leaving a widespread field of debris near the village of Grabovo, indicating the Boeing 777 broke up at altitude.

Pro-Russian rebel forces and Ukrainian government officials have swapped accusations, each blaming the other for the tragic accident.

The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.

On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, adding to what Kiev says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Security Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko said the pilot of the Sukhoi-25 jet hit by the air-to-air missile was forced to bail after his jet was shot down.

Pro-Russia rebels, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for strikes Wednesday on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile, but added the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely

Moscow denies Western charges that is supporting the separatists or sowing unrest in its neighbor. The Russian Defense Ministry couldn't be reached for comment Thursday about the Ukrainian jet and Russia’s foreign ministry didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.

Earlier this week, Ukraine said a military transport plane was shot down Monday by a missile fired from Russian territory.

The rebels are known to possess portable anti-aircraft rocket launchers, but Ukrainian officials say that kind of weapon would have been unable to reach the plane at the altitude at which it was flying July 14. Aviation experts, however, have questioned whether the stricken transport plane was flying at the altitude Ukrainian officials had claimed.

Gold, which started July 17 trading at $1,298, reached nearly $1,325 immediately following reports that the airliner may have been shot down. The safe-have metal settled to around $1,315 as the day wore on.

Investors are now watching as the facts of the tragedy are sorted out. If it is determined that the separatists, Ukrainian government or Russian military intentionally downed the civilian flight, the nearly certain resultant escalation would likely cause investors to grab up more gold.

“The world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now, we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens onboard. That is our first priority, and I've directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the Ukrainian government,” U.S. President Barack Obama said.

“The U.S. will offer any assistance we can to determine what happened and why,” he added.

Early reports claim that as many as 23 American citizens and at least eight Britons were aboard flight MH17, furthering the possibility of increased Western involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

As developments centered on the downed Malaysian airliner continues to unfold in Ukraine, the Israeli Military announced that it has launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, highlighting the continued unrest in the Middle East and providing investors concerned over geopolitical upheaval with another reason to turn to gold and other safe-haven assets.

Spot gold closed at US$1,318 in New York on Thursday.