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Russian rescue teams have located the wreckage of a passenger aircraft that vanished from radar Thursday while flying over the country's far eastern Amur region, authorities said.
The Antonov An-24 plane was discovered with its fuselage on fire after an extensive search operation, according to Russia's emergencies ministry. An Mi-8 helicopter operated by Rosaviatsiya, the country's civil aviation authority, spotted the burning aircraft wreckage.
The aircraft had been carrying 49 people when it disappeared from radar during a domestic flight from Blagoveshchensk, the administrative center of Amur region, to the town of Tynda. Among those aboard were 43 passengers, including five children, and six crew members, regional governor Vasily Orlov said on Telegram.
The plane was operating on the Khabarovsk-Blagoveshchensk-Tynda route when contact was lost. The aircraft failed to respond to radio calls while positioned several kilometers from Tynda's local airport, the Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed.
Search and rescue operations were immediately launched after the disappearance was reported. The ministry initially stated that preliminary data indicated approximately 40 people were on board the aircraft.
The Antonov An-24 is a Soviet-era twin-engine turboprop aircraft commonly used for regional passenger flights across Russia. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Russia's vast far eastern territories, including the Amur region, which borders China, rely heavily on aviation for transportation due to the remote geography and limited road infrastructure in the area.
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