88 killed in Russian airplane crash

RUSSIA: A Boeing-737 jet crashed near Russia’s city of Perm in the central Ural mountains killing all 82 passengers and six crew on board, including 21 foreigners, the jet’s owner Aeroflot said Sunday.

“The Boeing-737 carried 82 passengers on board, including seven children, and six crew... All passengers were killed,” Aeroflot said in a statement.

“There are foreign citizens among the victims, including nine from Azerbaijan, five from Ukraine, and one each from France, Switzerland, Latvia, the United States, Germany, Turkey and Italy,” the statement said.

Earlier the company denied that any foreigners were killed in the accident. “As the plane was coming in for landing, it lost communication at the height of 1,100 meters and air controllers lost its blip. The airplane was found within Perm’s city limits completely destroyed and on fire,” the statement added.

Earlier, investigator Vladimir Markin was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying that “there were 82 passengers plus a baby and five crew on board, and by preliminary information, they are all dead” as the airplane “fell into a ravine near the city limits.”

AFP