2 Indians, 60 others killed in plane crash
MOSCOW/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A Dubai airliner with 62 people on board nosedived and crashed early on Saturday while trying to land amid strong winds in the souther n Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all aboard, officials said.
Russia’s emergencies ministry said the Boeing 737-800 operated by FlyDubai was carrying 55 passengers, most of them Russians, and seven crew members of various nationalities. FlyDubai confirmed that there were no survivors and said four children were among the dead.
The two Indian casualties were identified as software engineer Syam Mohan and his wife Anju Mohan from Kochi, Kerala. According to relatives both left Dubai on Friday after a vacation.
“We can’t believe it. They left on Friday via Dubai. We got information from some of his friends in Russia. We are desperately waiting for details,” said one of the relatives of Mohan.
The powerful explosion pulverised the plane but investigators quickly recovered both flight recorders. The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known, but officials and experts pointed at a sudden gust of wind as a possible reason.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said assistance to the relatives of those killed was the priority, local news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
“The head of the state said that now the main thing is to work with the families and the loved ones of those who had died,” Peskov was quoted as saying.