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171 die in Russian plane crash

Vladimir Radyuhin

Crew sends distress signal before tragedy

MOSCOW: A Russian airliner with 171 persons aboard crashed in Ukraine on Tuesday after flying into a thunderstorm.

A Tu-154 passenger jet disappeared from radar screens about 20 minutes after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Anapa in Ukraine at around 4 p.m. Moscow time, emergency officials said. Minutes later, the blazing wreckage of the plane was found on the ground, 45 km from the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

Shortly before the crash the crew sent a distress signal and began to descent for an emergency landing, Ukrainian officials said. They said the crew reported heavy fire on board the plane. Severe turbulence had been reported in the area where the aircraft had been flying.

Eyewitnesses said the plane came down in a ball of fire. Rescuers have recovered 30 bodies so far.

This is the third major plane crash in Russia this year, and it came less than two months after 124 persons died when an Airbus A-310 of the Sibir carrier skidded off a runway and burst into flames after landing in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. Ealier this summer, an A-320 of an Armenian airline crashed into the Black Sea while trying to land in rough weather in the Russian resort city of Sochi, killing 113 persons.

Fire on board?

AP reports:

Russian emergency spokesperson Irina Andriyanova said there were 171 persons aboard: 160 passengers, including six children, and 11 crew members. However, Ukrainian officials said there were 160 passengers and 10 crew members. The discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

The plane belongs to St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines, which is among Russia's largest air companies. The Interfax news agency quoted Ukrainian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman as saying a fire broke out on the plane at 10,000 metres and that the crew decided to make an emergency landing. However, it quoted a Russian aviation official as saying the plane might have run into strong turbulence.

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