Plane With 49 People On Board Crashes in Russia

(RT) A passenger plane with 46 people on board has crashed over Russia’s Far Eastern Amur Region, officials reported on Thursday.

Local governor Vasily Orlov said the An-24 twin turboprop was taking 43 passengers, including five children, from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, a flight of roughly 570 km. There were six crew members aboard, he added.

Emergency services reported finding the crash site some 15km from the plane’s destination. Debris and signs of fire have been spotted from a helicopter dispatched in response to the incident.

Rescue workers on the ground are currently making their way to the fallen aircraft.

The aircraft that went missing was part of the fleet operated by Angara Airlines, which serves routes across the country’s Far East and Eastern Siberia.

The Antonov An-24 was designed in the 1950s and is normally used for cargo and passenger transportation. Over 1,000 units were produced over the years. The model is currently in limited commercial use in Russia.