Almost 50 people including children are feared dead after a Soviet-era passenger plane crashed in Russia’s far-eastern Amur region, state media reported on Thursday, citing local officials.
The plane, an Antonov An-24, was flying on a regional route from Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk and Tynda when it disappeared from the radar, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The Amur Center for Civil Defence and Fire Safety said on Telegram that a search and rescue helicopter spotted the wreck of the aircraft on a mountain slope 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Tynda. It said no survivors were seen from the air.
It said that according to the director of Tynda airport, the plane caught fire after it crashed.
The emergency ministry said it is investigating why it lost contact, and the Interstate Aviation Committee has launched a probe.
