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 |
Rescuers are seen near the tail of an Airbus A-310 which
crashed at the airport of Russia's Siberian city of Irkutsk on July 9,
2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
A TV grab dated on July 9, 2006 shows rescuers are
working at the airport of Russia's Siberian city of Irkutsk on July 9,
2006. (Xinhua Photo) |
An injured survivor (R) of the Airbus A-310 left, with her
relative, the airport of Russia's Siberian city of Irkutsk July 9, 2006.
(Xinhua Photo) |
Watch Video: Siberian plane
crash
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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.
The Sibir Airlines said 12 foreign citizens were
among the passengers, including three from Germany, three from China, two from
Poland, two from Azerbaijan and two from Belarus.
Seven of the foreign passengers survived and were
sent to a local hospital, including two Germans, two Poles, two Belarussians and
one Azerbaijani, the Itar-Tass news agency said.
Russian television showed footage of the jet wreckage
in between several lockup garages. Only the airplane's tail section with the
white-on -blue logo of Sibir airlines was still intact.
The black boxes of the airliner have been retrieved
and handed over to the Irkutsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, the regional
administration's press service announced.
The wreckage is being cleared from the crash site.
The survivors, who escaped from the plane on their own and went home, are
returning to the airport to give accounts of what happened.
Technical malfunctions and a human error were among
likely causes of the crash, 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.
According to a spokesman for Sibir Airlines, "neither
the air controllers, nor mission control reported any emergencies when the plane
was landing."
Before flying from Moscow to Irkutsk, Transport
Minister Igor Levitin said the plane's pilots contacted air traffic controllers
during the landing and said they had landed successfully, but radio contact
suddenly broke off.
It was the fourth air crash in Irkutsk in the past 12
years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared July 10
a Day of Mourning for the victims of the Irkutsk air crash, the Kremlin press
service said. Enditem
Related stories:
President Hu delivers consolation to
Putin over Russian air
crash
BEIJING, July 9
(Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday sent a consolatory message to
Russian President Vladimir Putin over the tragic crash of an A-310 passenger
plane at a Siberian airport early of the day.
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.
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."
