At least 49 people are feared dead after a passenger aircraft crashed in Russia’s far eastern Amur region on Thursday, according to local authorities.
The twin-engine Antonov-24, operated by Angara Airlines, had taken off from Blagoveshchensk en route to the town of Tynda when it lost contact with air traffic control, Governor Vassily Orlov confirmed in a Telegram post.
A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a mountainside about 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Tynda.
The helicopter saw no evidence of survivors from above, local rescuers said.
The Amur region’s civil defence agency said it was dispatching rescuers to the scene.
“At the moment, 25 people and five units of equipment have been dispatched, and four aircraft with crews are on standby,” it said.
AFP
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