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MOSCOW (AP) – All 48 passengers and crew members on a passenger plane crashed in Russia’s Far East have been killed, the head of the Amur region said in a statement Thursday.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency has said it has discovered a Soviet-designed twin-turboprop plain fiery fuselage on the hillside south of its southern destination in the town of Tinda, more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) east of Moscow.
The plane, run by Siberia-based Angara Airlines, first departed from Khabarovsk, before heading to Blagobeshensk, on the Russian-China border, for Tinda.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. The Russian fax interfax news agency said there were harmful weather conditions at the time of the collision and cited an unknown source of emergency services. Several Russian news outlets also reported that the aircraft were nearly 50 years old, citing data taken from the plane’s tail number.
Images of the reported clash scene circulating by Russian state media show fragments scattered in dense forests surrounded by feathers of smoke.
Regional government Vasily Orlov said rescuers had trouble reaching the site due to the remote area 15 km (9 miles) south of Tinda.
The Far East Transportation Prosecutor’s Office said in an online statement that the plane had lost contact with air traffic control and was about to land for the second time when it disappeared from the radar.
Orlov has announced the disaster of three days of mourning in the Amur region. This he described as a “terrifying tragedy.”
Previous statements from the government said 49 people were on board during the flight. The reason for the contradiction was not immediately clear.
Authorities have launched an investigation into a flight safety violation that has resulted in multiple deaths, a standard procedure for aviation accident.
Aviation accidents have been occurring frequently in Russia, especially in recent years, as international sanctions have put pressure on the country’s aviation sector.
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