UNITED NATIONS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday called for a "full, thorough and independent" investigation into the downing of the Malaysian airliner over Ukraine.

"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," said a statement by Eugene Richard Gasana of Rwanda, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body for July.

"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," said the statement, issued after an emergency meeting of the council on the disaster.

The meeting began with the Security Council members' observing a minute of silence for the victims in the Thursday crash.

The council members also expressed in the statement their deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims, and to the people and governments of all those killed in the crash.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Boeing 777, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down Thursday in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers and crew aboard. There were no survivors.

The latest passenger list provided by the Malaysia Airlines included 189 Dutch people, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 9 Britons.