BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
An aircraft carrying 28 passengers has crashed in eastern Russia.
According to transport officials, the AN-26 airplane was reportedly on its way from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the region’s capital, to the town of Palana when it disappeared from radar and failed to land as scheduled on Tuesday.
Local officials reportedly said most of the passengers were from Palana including four local government officials and Olga Mokhiryova, head of the local government in Palana.
The country’s emergency ministry also said the passengers included six crew members and two children under the age of 12.
According to the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya), the weather was foggy as the plane prepared to land.
The aircraft is said to have lost contact about 10 kilometres away from Palana’s airport.
The Russian aviation agency added that the wreckage of the plane was found about five kilometers from the Palana airport runway.
Earlier, the plane was thought to have crashed into the sea near the Kamchatka peninsula but according to the agency, it is believed to have collided with a hill near the village of Palana.
The debris of the plane has also been found both in the sea and on land.
“Wreckage was found near the hills on the coastline,” a spokesperson for Rosaviation reportedly said.
Although search and rescue groups have begun, no survivors have been found yet.
An investigation has also been launched into the safety compliance of the plane.
“If violations are detected, prosecutorial response measures will be taken,” Kamchatka transport prosecutor’s office reportedly said.
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