Washington: New video footage has emerged showing two Iranian missiles tearing through the night sky and hitting a Ukrainian passenger plane, sending the aircraft down in flames and killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

The projectiles were fired 30 seconds apart and explain why the plane's transponder was not working as it hurtled to the ground - it was disabled by the first strike, before being hit by a second, said the New York Times, which published the verified security camera footage.