Several European countries' governments on Friday expressed their condolences and demanded action after the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 carrying 298 people crashed in eastern Ukraine.

"I learned with great suffering about the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane's tragedy," Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini was quoted as saying in a statement.

"Now it is necessary to shed light on what happened as soon as possible through an independent commission of inquiry to get to the truth," she added.

The Boeing 777 passenger plane crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine, with the Ukrainian government and rebels in the region accusing each other of shooting down the plane.

In a separate statement, the Italian foreign ministry said a man with Italian and Dutch dual citizenship along with his son were among the passengers on board the crashed flight.

Meanwhile, Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos expressed deep condolences over the air tragedy, saying "the loss of so many lives causes deep sorrow."

"We express condolences to the families of the victims and we expect an independent international investigation which will fully clarify the causes of the tragedy," he added.

In the light of information that the plane was allegedly shot down, the Greek leader repeated a plea "for the peaceful resolution of the crisis in eastern Ukraine to avoid acts which could lead to the increase of tension."

Slovak President Andrej Kiska also sent condolences to the king of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander, the king of Malaysia Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and "all bereaved by the tragedy."

The Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry urged respective authorities to secure a independent international probe into the causes of the tragedy. It added that no Slovaks were onboard the plane.

Slovenia on Friday called for an independent and comprehensive international investigation into the crash of the flight over eastern Ukraine.

"Only on the basis of such an investigation those responsible for the tragedy could be held accountable," the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.