Kamchatka Plane Crash: Plane Crashes In Far East Russia Killing 10
Authorities say a small propeller plane crashed in Russia’s far east on Wednesday killing 10 of the 14 people on board.
According to ABC News, the aircraft, a twin-engine Antonov-28 plane, crash-landed in a cedar forest near the town of Palana in western Kamchatka, some 4,2000 east of Moscow.
The Moscow Times reports that air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane around 12:30 pm local time. Experts say bad weather may have brought down the aircraft, as there were torrential rains and clouds as low as 400 meters from the ground at the time of the crash. Russia’s Investigative Committee, however, said that the crash may have resulted from an engine malfunction and announced it had opened a probe into possible violation of air transport regulations as well.
Following the accident, the four survivors — three men and a woman — were treated by medical staff at the site and remained under close supervision before being transferred to nearby hospitals.
One of the survivors, a comatose 13-year-old, was hospitalized with a massive cranial wound, emergency officials added.
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Ilyukhin declared Thursday as a mourning day for the victims of the crash. Ilyukhin added that families of the crash victims would receive 200,000-ruble (which equals out to 6,300 US dollars) of compensation and that those injured would also receive financial aid.
According to the Times, Tuesday’s accident in Kamchatka was the deadliest in Russia since a Utair-operated ATR 72 crashed just after takeoff in the Siberian city of Tyumen in April, killing 33 people.
