The Herald (South Africa)

Plane carrying 71 people crashes near Moscow

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A RUSSIAN passenger plane carrying 71 people crashed outside Moscow yesterday after taking off from the capital’s Domodedovo airport, Russian media reported.

The Antonov An-148 plane, operated by the domestic Saratov Airlines, was flying to Orsk, a city in the Urals, and crashed in the Ramensky district on the outskirts of Moscow.

Russian news agencies reported 65 passengers and six crew were on board.

News agencies said witnesses in the village of Argunovo saw a burning plane falling from the sky.

A source from Russia’s emergency services told Interfax news agency the 71 people on board had no chance of survival.

Interfax said the wreckage of the plane was spread over a wide area around the crash site.

Russian state television aired a video of the crash site, showing parts of the wreckage in the snow.

Russia has seen record high snowfalls in recent days and visibility was reportedly poor.

The Russian-made plane was seven years old and bought by Saratov Airlines from another Russian airline a year ago.

Russian media said emergency services were unable to reach the crash site by road and rescue workers walked to the scene on foot.

Emergency services said more than 150 rescue workers were deployed to the site.

A source at Domodedovo, Moscow’s secondlarg­est airport, told agencies the plane disappeare­d from radar within two minutes of takeoff.

The Russian transport minister was on his way to the crash site, agencies reported.

The transport ministry said several causes for the crash were being considered, including weather conditions and human error.

The governor of the Orenburg region, to where the plane was flying. said more than 60 people on board the aircraft were from the region.

Prosecutor­s opened an investigat­ion into Saratov Airlines following the crash.

Plane crashes are common in Russia, where aging aircraft are often used in testing conditions.

A light aircraft crashed in November last year in Russia’s far east, killing six people on board.

In December 2016, a military plane carrying the famed Red Army Choir – due to perform for troops in Syria – crashed after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 92 people on board. Pilot error was blamed for that crash. In March 2016, all 62 passengers died when a FlyDubia jet crashed in bad weather during an aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.

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