No Belarusians hurt in plane crash in Kazan

According to preliminary data, no Belarus citizens are listed among the victims of the aircraft crash in the Russian city of Kazan.

BelTA learned it from Alexander Gordeichik, Press Secretary of the Embassy of Belarus in Russia.

The source said that consular officers of the diplomatic mission are staying in touch with the Emergencies Ministry of Russia. “The identification of the remnants of the dead continues at the crash site. No Belarusian citizens are among them,” said Alexander Gordeichik.

As many as 44 passengers, including two children, and six crew members were killed as a Boeing 737 operated by Tatarstan Airlines crashed in the evening on 17 November. A UK citizen and a Ukraine citizen died in the crash.

Alexander Poltinin, Head of the Volga Region Investigation Office for Transport of the Investigation Committee of Russia, said that the investigators will carry out the necessary actions to investigate the plane crash within as short time as possible. Piloting errors and technical factors, including faulty hardware, are the main versions of the event, he said.

Alexander Poltinin said that the plane came crashing down virtually vertically between the runway and the taxiway. Its fuel tanks exploded and started a fire, which was extinguished only in the morning.

The aircraft was a Moscow-Kazan flight. It left Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport at 18:25 and was trying to land one hour later. As it attempted to make a second pass, the aircraft lost altitude, fell on the ground, and caught fire. All the 50 people on board died.