At least 124 killedin an air crash in Irkutsk

At least 124 killedin an air crash in Irkutsk

ArmRadio.am
10.07.2006 11:31

A Sibir Airlines passenger jet with 200 people on board veered off
the runway early Sunday while landing at Irkutsk Airport in eastern
Siberia, crashed into a concrete barrier and burst into flames,
killing at least 124 people, according to the Russian Ministry of
Emergency Situations.

The front of the Airbus A-310 was crushed, and 53 people were
hospitalized, most of them with burns, the Ministry informed.

So far, 120 bodies have been recovered. Another 25 are missing and
while most are feared dead, witnesses reported seeing some people
jumping from the wreckage and leaving the crash site.

It is the second fatal crash inside Russia involving an Airbus aircraft
this year. On May 3, all 113 people aboard an Armavia Airlines flight
died when the Airbus 320 crashed into the Black Sea near the Russian
resort of Sochi.

The plane had departed from the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

Three Sibir Airlines flights have been involved in fatal incidents
inside Russia since 2001, including Sunday’s crash.

On October 4, 2001, Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154M was hit by a
Ukrainian surface-to-air missile over the Black Sea near Sochi,
killing all 77 aboard. The missile was fired as part of a training
exercise. The flight was heading from Tel Aviv, Israel to Novosibirsk
in Siberia. On August 24, 2004, Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154B2
departed Moscow for Sochi and disappeared more than an hour after
take-off. All 46 people on board were killed when the plane went down
near Millerovo, Russia.