50 killed in Russian plane crash

Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) – A total of 50 people are feared dead as a passenger jet crashed on landing in the city of Kazan in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry reported Sunday.

Irina Rossius said the jet, a Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737 bound from Moscow to Kazan with 50 people on board, crashed at about 19:30 Moscow Time, adding that there was an explosion. According to preliminary data, all those on board died, she said.

The pilot tried to perform a go-around after an aborted landing, a spokesman for Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya said, adding that the airport in Kazan is closed.

The Rossiya-24 TV channel reported that there were 44 passengers and six crew on board.

An investigation is under way, the Investigative Committee said, adding that it will send experts to the crash site. Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin will head to Kazan on Monday. The fire on the crash site has been extinguished, the committee said.

Crew error is believed to be one of the possible reasons for the crash, a law enforcement source said. Weather conditions and a possible technical malfunction may also be to blame, investigators said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to establish a commission to investigate the crash, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin expressed condolences to the close ones of those killed in the crash.

The Russian Transportation Ministry has established a commission to deal with the crash consequences. Minister Maxim Sokolov leads it.