All 28 people on board a Russian plane which crashed into the sea have died – including a young child.
Debris from the missing An-26 aircraft has been found in the country’s remote far east, with rescue officials confirming there were no survivors.
The Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop plane vanished from radar in the Kamchatka peninsula earlier today, with search teams quickly deployed to the area.
The flight had set off from regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and was heading for the village of Palana in the north before losing contact, the emergencies ministry confirmed.
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(Image: EMERCOM OF RUSSIA PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Six crew members were among those on board, the ministry added.
Citing sources, Interfax reported that the plane was thought to have crashed into a cliff as it was preparing to land in poor visibility conditions.
The head of the Palana village administration, Olga Mokhireva, 42, is understood to have been among the passengers, as well as a child aged six or seven.
Regional deputy transport minister Anatoly Bannikov, said prior to the wreckage being found: “It was supposed to arrive at the Palana airport at 15:05 (local time).
“The plane did not arrive at the appointed time.
(Image: Russia Emergencies Ministry/TASS)
“According to updated data, there were 28 people on board… six crew members and 22 passengers, including one child born in 2014.”
A report said that the 39-year-old turboprop Antonov got into trouble as it prepared to land, and the Russian Pacific Fleet was called in to help the search, along with a plane and two helicopters.
A local meteorology centre said weather in the area was cloudy, according to reports.
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Russia’s civil aviation authority confirmed that the plane’s crash site had been found after the emergencies ministry dispatched a helicopter and had deployed teams on the ground to look for the missing aircraft.
TASS said the aircraft involved had been in service since 1982.
Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.
(Image: Aerial Forest Protection Service)
The Soviet-era plane type, still used for military and civilian flights in some countries, has been involved in dozens of deadly crashes since it entered service around 50 years ago.
An Antonov-28, a similar plane, slammed into a Kamchatka forest in 2012 in a crash that killed 10 people along the same route.
Investigators said both pilots were drunk at the time of the crash.