A passenger aircraft carrying 49 people, including five children, has crashed in Russia’s far eastern Amur region on Thursday, with no signs of survivors.
The aircraft, a twin-engine Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk to the town of Tynda when it vanished from radar. According to regional governor Vassily Orlov, the plane disappeared just a few kilometers from its destination.
A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a steep mountainside about 15 to 16 kilometers from Tynda. Russian emergency services confirmed the wreckage was engulfed in flames and, tragically, there were no survivors.
Russia’s civil defence agency dispatched 25 personnel and five units of equipment to the crash site, with four more aircraft on standby to assist the operation. However, officials reported that the location of the wreckage was extremely difficult to access due to the mountainous terrain.
Russian news agency Sputnik reported that the An-24 was found by emergency teams from Amur, who confirmed that the aircraft was completely ablaze when discovered. All 43 people on board—comprising 6 crew members and 37 passengers, including five children—are believed to have perished.
The ill-fated aircraft, designed during the Soviet era by the Antonov Design Bureau, was commonly used for short-haul routes. The An-24 features twin turboprop engines and can carry up to 44 passengers.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash.
