By Shalom Ikuvbogie
50 Dead in Russian Plane Crash Near Tynda
A passenger aircraft crashed into a forested mountain area near Tynda in Russia’s Amur region on Wednesday, killing all 50 people on board.
The flight, operated by Angara Airlines, was heading from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda when it lost contact with air traffic control shortly after 1 p.m. local time. Rescue crews later located the wreckage deep in the taiga, around 15 kilometres from the destination airport.
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Images from the crash site showed thick smoke and scattered debris among the trees. Officials confirmed that no survivors were found.
The twin-propeller Antonov-24, built during the Soviet era, was flying in poor weather when it went down. Angara Airlines’ CEO, Sergei Salamanov, said the pilot had decided to proceed with the flight despite the challenging conditions.
A passenger aircraft crashed into a forested mountain area near Tynda
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. Tynda, a small town near the Chinese border, is surrounded by remote forest, which made rescue efforts more difficult.
