Russian military jet crashes into residential building in Siberia, both pilots killed

A Russian military jet crashed into a two-storey building in Russia's Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday (October 23). The accident happened during a test flight, leaving two pilots dead,the local governor said.

Regional governor Igor Kobzev said on social media: "Both pilots were killed. None of the local residents were hurt... The Su aircraft was carrying out a test flight."

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Kobzev also posted a video on social media of the building with smoke billowing against a dark sky. The footage also shows firefighters working at the scene.

According to Russian news agencies, it was a Su-30 plane in the Sundayaccident.Russia's investigative committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement that it had launched a criminal case over the incident.

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This happened a second time in six days. At least 13people were killed last Monday when a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet hit an apartment building in the southern Ukrainian city of Yeysk.

A video published by the Russian military news channel Zvezda showed explosions aboard the Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic medium-range fighter bomber. The jet fell on the apartments. The pilots had ejected.

In a statement to RIA, the Russian defence ministry said: "According to the report of the ejected pilots, the cause of the plane crash was the ignition of one of the engines during take-off. At the site of the crash of the Su-34 in the courtyard of one of the residential quarters, the plane’s fuel ignited."

Images and videos of the accident were circulating on social media platforms as footage showed the nine-storey building on fire, which was later put out.

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