A plane carrying 28 people has crashed after it weathered fog and clouds in Russia’s far east and everyone aboard is feared to be dead.
It was carrying 22 passengers and six crew members when it made the doomed flight.
The Antonov An-26 plane had been flying from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the town of Palana on the Okhotsk Sea coast.
But the 39-year-old aircraft missed a scheduled communication and disappeared from the radar on Tuesday, officials from the Kamchatka region said.
It is understood the plane crashed into a sea cliff.
Debris from the Antonov An-26 has reportedly been found near the airport in the town of Palana.
While part of the fuselage was found on the side of a mountain, Russia’s Pacific Fleet told news agencies, and another part was seen floating in the Okhotsk Sea.
No bodies have been found but rescue officials fear there are no survivors, according to local media.
The plane has been in operation since 1982, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
Nine years ago an Antonov An-28 plane belonging to Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise crashed into a mountain while flying the same route as Tuesday’s flight. A total of 14 people were on board and 10 of them were killed.
