Two Newcastle United fans travelling to New Zealand are among the victims of the Ukraine air disaster.
It has been reported that the two men had been due to follow their team’s pre-season tour of the islands.
The fans’ website NUFC.com reported that John Alder, who is believed to be in his 60s, and Liam Sweeney, 28, were on board flight MH17.
A tribute on the website said: “Both were well known to away followers, particularly John, whose usual match day attire led to the affectionate nickname of ’The Undertaker’.
“Both were in attendance at Oldham on Tuesday, doing what they loved. Our thoughts are with their friends, families and the many fans who knew them by sight.
“Watching Newcastle will never be the same again.”
There has been no official confirmation of the names of any of the nine British passengers on board the Boeing 777.
There are also unconfirmed report saying Malaysian PM Najib Razak’s 83-year-old step-grandmother was on the flight
Flags are flying at half-mast across the Netherlands as the country mourns at least 154 of its citizens who died.
Families of the victims were gathering in a hotel at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport early today.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte called for a fully independent investigation into yesterday’s crash which killed 298 passengers and crew, the majority of them Dutch.
Mr Rutte said “the next of kin of the 173 Dutch victims and all the other nationalities have the right to know what happened.”
Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatist rebels say they have found “most” of the recording devices from the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
A spokesman for the insurgency’s military commander, Igor Girkin, said eight out of the plane’s 12 recording devices have been located.
He said Girkin was still considering whether to give international crash investigators access to the sprawling crash site.
Any investigators would need specific permission from the rebel leadership before they could safely film or take photos at the scene.