MH17: Why this is one of the most heartbreaking images

It is with a sense of terrible irony that you won't see most of the pictures of what remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

MH17: Big photos capture Malaysia Airline tragedy

Even in the age of social media's insatiable demand for verified images, the majority of the photos from yesterday that proved beyond doubt what had happened to the tragic passenger jet were just too graphic to be published.

These distressing photos are almost too horrible to take in, and your heart breaks when you think of the loved ones of the 298 people on board the plane who now have to deal with the aftermath of the crash.

But amid the almost incomprehensible tragedy a single image proved especially poignant; a passenger's travel book and holiday novel strewn on the grass against the backdrop of the crash site's devastation.

Everyone can identify with the terrible inherent sadness in the juxtaposition of a normal holiday and near-unimaginable tragedy.

And this is why, as with flight MH370, people will be compelled to follow what happened to MH17, however upsetting.

Photos: Malaysia Airlines MH17 shot down

Image 1 of 18: People stand amongst the wreckage of the Malaysian Airline plane after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk. Photo / AFP

- The Independent