More than three dozen people, including two kids, are dead after an Aeroflot plane made a crash landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday.
The plane, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 that was reportedly on its way to the Arctic city of Murmansk, took off from the airport at about 5 p.m. local time, according to CNN International.
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The aircraft had been flying for about half an hour when an emergency forced a landing, though it’s not clear what caused the incident.
There were initial reports suggesting that the plane was hit by lightning but Aeroflot said technical issues forced the landing, BBC News reported.
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There were 78 people on board the flight and that included five crew. One of those killed was an American citizen, said CNN, quoting Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Aeroflot published a list of 33 survivors but noted it was incomplete.
BBC News quoted crash investigator Yelena Markovskaya saying there were 37 survivors, four of them crew members.
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The plane took off into rough weather and crew sent a distress signal following some malfunctions on the aircraft.
The aircraft’s engines caught fire on the runway after it landed, according to the BBC.
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Video of the plane posted on Twitter showed it approaching a runway at high speed before it hit the ground and then gained altitude once more.
The plane could be seen catching fire when it reached the ground again.
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