At least 32 killed in Russia plan crash

At least 32 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed in Russia’s Siberia region early Monday, emergency authorities said.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Rescuers and investigators work at the site of a plane crash near Russiau2019s Siberian city of Tyumen, on April 2, 2012. Net photo.

At least 32 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed in Russia’s Siberia region early Monday, emergency authorities said.The aircraft, carrying 39 passengers and four crew members, went down shortly after it took off from the major Siberian city of Tyumen, about 2,100 km east of Moscow, toward Surgut, another Siberian city.Following the tragedy, rescuers rushed to the scene and transferred the wounded survivors to hospitals, but some of the critically injured were later pronounced dead.Air traffic controllers reported that the French-Italian-made, twin-engine ATR-72 aircraft, operated by UTair, disappeared from the radar and lost contact briefly after the takeoff. The plane burst into flame after the crash, and the fire was later extinguished. Rescuers said that all the survivors suffered from different degrees of burns.Earlier reports from the Itar-Tass news agency said that there were 39 passengers and two crew members on board and that all of them were killed. The aircraft’s two black boxes have been recovered and the cause of the crash is yet to be determined. Russian investigators haveopened a criminal case regarding the tragedy.