SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Siberia plane crash kills 31

A passenger plane has crashed in Siberia shortly after taking off, killing 31 of the 43 people on board, Russian emergency officials say.

siberia_plane_crash_L_1200404_epa_122655290

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP


Skip to article content

A passenger plane has crashed in Siberia shortly after taking off, killing 31 of the 43 people on board, Russian emergency officials say.

The 12 survivors are seriously ill in hospital.

The ATR-72, a French-Italian-made twin-engine turboprop, operated by UTair was flying from Tyumen to the oil town of Surgut crashed on Monday with 39 passengers and four crew.

The aircraft went down on a snowy field outside Tyumen, a major regional centre in Siberia about 1700 kilometres east of Moscow.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

UTair published a list of the passengers and crew, and none of them appeared to be foreigners.

The Emergency Situations Ministry first said 12 survivors were flown by helicopter to a Tyumen hospital but that one of them had died. The ministry's regional branch in Tyumen later said that a 12th survivor was in a village hospital and revised the death toll downward to 31.

Russia has had a string of deadly crashes in recent years. Some have been blamed on aging Soviet-era aircraft, but industry experts point to a number of other problems, including poor training, crumbling airports, lax government controls and widespread neglect of safety in the pursuit of profits.

Pilot error was blamed for a crash in Yaroslavl, a city 250km northeast of Moscow, in September that killed 44 people, including a professional hockey team.

Pilot error and fog were the main causes of a crash in April 2010 that killed Poland's president and 95 other people as their plane was trying to land near Smolensk, in western Russia.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world