A metallic bang and smoke: Witnesses describe the scene of Prigozhin's plane crash

A video shared by Russian agencies and widely circulated on social media platforms showed a plane crashing to the ground in Russia's Tver region north of Moscow. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the list of 10 passengers, but it wasn't immediately clear if he was on board. Russian officials said that all passengers were killed.

The video of the plane crash has gone viral now. Media reports said that a local woman witnessed the crash and she said she saw parts of the plane flaking off when it was free falling on the ground. Another woman said she saw two massive explosions ring out in the moments before its fatal descent.

As quoted by news agency Reuters, a 72-year-old eyewitness, identified as Vitaly Stepenok, said: "I hear an explosion or a bang. Usually, if an explosion happens on the ground then you get an echo, but it was just a bang and I looked up and saw white smoke.

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"One wing flew off in one direction and the fuselage went like that (GESTURES). And then it glided down on one wing. It didn't nose-dive, it was gliding," Stepenok added. The local said that he was afraid it would fall onto the village.

Another eyewitness, Anatoly, said: "In terms of what might have happened, I'll just say this: it wasn't thunder, it was a metallic bang - let's put it that way. I've heard things like that before."

Local media outlet BAZA reported that among the charred remains was one corpse which was missing a head, and another with a face described as "shattered". A source who had seen the wreck said: Four bodies were picked open, and then it is still not clear." The source also claimed that the plane burned out completely and the front part, windows and a piece of hardware remained.

Watch the video here:

Ukraine and the West have linked the crash to the Wagner mercenary group's attempted coup against Russia's military leadership in June, with US President Joe Biden even suggesting a direct involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion was seen as the biggest challenge to Putin's authority since he came to power. Since then, uncertainty has surrounded the fate of Wagner and its controversial chief.

But the Kremlin and the defence ministry have not reacted yet.

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