All 71 on board crashed Russian plane dead: Investigators
Russian airlines
The plane, which crashed minutes after taking off from Moscow, was carrying 65 passengers and six crew
All 71 people on board the Russian passenger plane that crashed outside Moscow Sunday evening are dead, investigators have said.
The Saratov Airlines plane was carrying 65 passengers and six crew.
"Sixty-five passengers and six crew members were on board, and all of them died," Russia`s office of transport investigations said in a statement.
The Antonov An-128 aircraft disappeared from radar screens four minutes after taking off from Moscow`s Domodedovo airport, the office added.
The plane was flying to Orsk, a city in the Urals, and crashed in the Ramensky district on the outskirts of Moscow.
News agencies said witnesses in the village of Argunovo, where the aircraft crashed, saw a burning plane falling from the sky.
President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the families of those on board.
"The president offers his profound condolences to those who lost their relatives in the crash," Putin`s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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 7 years-old and bought by Saratov Airlines from another Russian airline a year ago.
Russian media reported that the emergency services were unable to reach the crash site by road and that rescue workers walked to the scene on foot. Emergency services said in a statement that over 150 rescue workers were deployed to the site.
The Russian transport minister was on his way to the crash site, agencies reported. The transport ministry said several causes for the crash are being considered, including weather conditions and human error.
The governor of the Orenburg region, where the plane was flying to, told Russian media that "more than 60 people" onboard the plane were from the region.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into Saratov Airlines following the crash.
Plane crashes are common in Russia, where airlines often operate ageing aircraft in testing flying conditions.
A light aircraft crashed in November in Russia`s far east, killing six people on board.
In December 2016 a military plane carrying Russia`s famed Red Army Choir crashed after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 92 people on board.
The choir had been due to give a concert to Russian troops operating in Syria.
Pilot error was blamed for that crash.
In March 2016, all 62 passengers died when a FlyDubai jet crashed in bad weather during an aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.
(With inputs from AFP)