BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Friday that a Hong Kong resident was aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine.

The Ministry will keep in close contact with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in dealing with the aftermath and watch closely the developments of the disaster, Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a press release.

The ministry launched an emergency response mechanism immediately after the crash and instructed China's embassies in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Ukraine and Russia as well as the consulate general in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa to check if there were Chinese citizens on board the plane, Hong said.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777-200, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers and crew aboard. No survivors have been found.