In the message, Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, expressed heartfelt consolation to the Russian government and the Russian people.

    Hu also mourned dearly the victims in the crash and sent consolation to their relatives.

    According to the Russian Interior Ministry, an A-310 jet of the Russian airline Sibir carrying 192 passengers, six flight attendants and two pilots veered off the runway and hit a building during landing at the Irkutsk airport at 03:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Saturday).

    After collision with the building, the jet burst into flames.

    The jet arrived in Irkutsk from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. Many of the passengers aboard were children going for vacation on Russia's famous Lake Baikal near Irkutsk.

    The Irkutsk airport authorities said several foreign citizens were among the passengers aboard the plane. Enditem

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Russian plane crash kills at least 122

The tail of an Airbus A-310 which crashed is seen at the airport of Russia's Siberian city of Irkutsk on July 9, 2006. A Russian A-310 airliner crashed at a Siberian airport early Sunday, killing at least 122 people and injuring more than 50 others, Russian news agencies reported. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Watch Video: Siberian plane crash

    MOSCOW, July 9 (Xinhua) -- A Russian A-310 airliner crashed at a Siberian airport early Sunday, killing at least 122 people and injuring more than 50 others, Russian news agencies reported.

    The A-310 jet of the Russian airline Sibir from Moscow's Domodedovo airport slid off the runway and hit a building during landing at the Irkutsk airport at 3:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Saturday).

    After its collision with the building, the jet burst into flames. It took firefighters more than two hours to put down the fire.

    According to latest data from the Emergency Ministry, 204 people were aboard the crashed plane, including 193 passengers, eight crew members and three people whose names had not been included in the passenger list.

    The ministry confirmed that 122 people died, 58 were hospitalized, 12 still unaccounted for, and 12 have returned home.

Malfunction, human error likely causes Russian plane crash 

    MOSCOW, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Technical malfunctions and a human error were among likely causes of the crash of an A-310 airliner at a Siberian airport early Sunday, the Prosecutor General's Office said.

    "But it would be premature to prioritize any of the theories viewed. A more definite answer could be given after the flight recorders have been read," spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office Marina Gridneva was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

    The flight data recorders were not damaged and had been taken to the Regional Emergency Situations Commission for analysis. The recordings would be read soon, Gridneva added.

Foreigners were among passengers aboard crashed Russian plane 

    MOSCOW, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Several foreign citizens were among the passengers on board the A-310 airliner that crashed in Irkutsk during landing early Sunday, the Irkutsk airport authorities said.

    "Specialists are now looking through lists of all passengers who were aboard the airbus of the Sibir Air Company. Foreign citizens were aboard the plane, and now we are re-checking their citizenship," a source at a crisis center was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    The source added that "several people (Wang Tiecheng, Wang Xiaojie, Li Qingli and Wang Lida) were likely to have the Chinese citizenship."