Plane crashes in Russia, 10 killed

PanARMENIAN.Net - A plane crashed on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, Sept 12, killing at least ten people, officials said, according to RIA Novosti.

The twin-engine Antonov An-28 was carrying 12 passengers and two crew, investigators say. It had been on a flight from the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Four survivors have been taken to hospital, emergencies officials said.

The aircraft lost radio contact with traffic control at 12:28 local time [00:28 GMT] shortly before it was due to land at an airfield in the village of Palana, about 990 kilometers north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It remains unclear what caused the crash.

The pilots had been trying to make an emergency landing when the plane came down in woodland some 10 kilometers from Palana, Kamchatka's special programs minister Sergei Khabanov said earlier on Wednesday.

The plane belonged to a local state firm, authorities said.

Aircraft are used extensively for transport in Kamchatka, a huge territory with many remote sites which are not easily accessible by road.