62 passengers killed in Russia plane crash

PanARMENIAN.Net - All sixty-two people on board a flydubai Boeing 737 were killed when the plane crashed and burst into flames as it was landing in Rostov-on-Don, in Southern Russia, on Saturday morning, officials said, according to AFP.

The plane was making its second attempt to land in bad weather when it missed the runway, erupting in a huge fireball as it crashed and leaving debris scattered across a wide area.

"flydubai regrets to confirm that flight FZ981 crashed on landing and that fatalities have been confirmed as a result of this tragic accident," the airline said on its Facebook page.

Russian investigators confirmed that all 62 people on board were killed, raising the initial toll by one, AFP reports.

"According to the initial information, there were 55 passengers and seven crew members on board. They are all dead," investigators said.

The passengers were all Russian nationals, including four children, local news channel LifeNews reported, describing the crew as unspecified "foreigners."

Footage shown on local media showed a huge fireball engulfing a wide area after the plane went down. The authorities took more than an hour to get the blaze under control, the emergencies ministry said.

More than 500 rescuers and 60 vehicles were dispatched to the crash site, the ministry added.

"The plane skimmed the ground and broke into several pieces," the investigators said, and LifeNews reported that fragments of the Boeing 737 were scattered up to 1.5 kilometres from the crash site, AFP says.

A strong wind warning was in place and it was raining hard at the time of the crash, and according to LifeNews, the plane had been circling the area trying to land for two hours because of the poor weather.