At least 49 people are feared dead after a passenger plane crashed in Russia’s far east on Thursday.
The plane was flying from the city of Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, a remote town and key railway hub in the Amur region near the Chinese border, when it disappeared from radar while preparing to land.
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Video footage circulating on social media showed that the Russian Antonov An-24 passenger plane had crashed in a densely forested area, with smoke rising from the site.
“During the search operation, an Mi-8 helicopter belonging to Rossaviatsiya discovered the aircraft’s fuselage, which was on fire,” Russia’s emergency services ministry said on Telegram. “Rescuers continue to make their way to the scene of the accident.”
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All 49 people on board the plane are feared dead, according to Al Jazeera.
The plane was operated by Angara, a privately owned regional airline based in Siberia. Reuters reports that records show the aircraft was built in 1976 and was previously used by the Soviet flag carrier Aeroflot before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Russian emergency officials disclosed that debris from the aircraft was found on a hill about 15 km (10 miles) from Tynda,
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TASS, a Russian news agency, reported that an error by the pilot crew during landing in a poor visibility area is being considered as one of the possible causes of the crash.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has set up a commission to handle the crash’s aftermath, and an investigation has been launched to determine the cause.
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The regional governor, Vasily Orlov, said there were 43 passengers on board, including five children, along with six crew members.
The federal Russian government, on the other hand, has reported a slightly lower number of 42 passengers.
According to multiple media reports, flying in Russia can be risky, particularly in remote areas like the Arctic and the far east, where the weather is often harsh.
Although aviation safety has improved in recent years, crashes still happen, mainly involving old planes operating in hard-to-reach regions.
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