Rescuers say no survivors in Russian jet crash

PanARMENIAN.Net - All of the dozens aboard a Russian Sukhoi passenger jet flying on a sales promotion trip in Indonesia were killed when the plane slammed into a mountain, officials said on Thursday, May 10.

According to AFP, rescuers who reached the remote site found bodies scattered near the wreckage of Russia's first post-Soviet civilian plane on the sheer face of Mount Salak, outside the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, officials said.

"We entered the area... and found the dead bodies, but we cannot say about the number," said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.

"We haven't found any survivors," he said.

The twin-engine Superjet 100 vanished from radar screens on Wednesday, 50 minutes into what was meant to be a short flight to show off its capabilities to prospective buyers as Russia tries to rebuild its civilian jet industry.

Reports of the number on board varied, with local rescue officials saying the plane was carrying 46 people and Trimarga Rekatama, the company responsible for inviting the passengers, saying 50 were on board.

Those aboard were mostly Indonesian aviation representatives, but also included eight Russians -- four of them crew and four Sukhoi employees -- plus an American and a Frenchman, officials said.

They said a helicopter pilot spotted the plane's debris after rescuers resumed their operation at first light on Thursday, locating one part with the Sukhoi logo on the sheer face of Mount Salak, a dormant volcano.