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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
World
Christopher Brennan

Thousands of pounds of gold and silver fall out of Russian airplane

They could've used some golden parachutes.

A plane accidentally dropped tons of precious metals on the tarmac when it was leaving a remote Russian region on Thursday.

The Antonov cargo aircraft was at the Yakutsk when some of the 9 metric tons of gold-silver alloy bars it was carrying fell off, according to local prosecutors.

Preliminary reports suggest that more than 172 ingots weighing 3 tons, more than 6,000 pounds, showered the ground below.

The total cargo would be worth $122 million, experts told Kommersant.

Investigators said that unsecured cargo paved the way for the potential wealth redistribution effort, and that it damaged the plane door before busting through.

No injuries were reported to the flight crew or people on the ground, and a spokesman for Kinross Gold, which mined the metals, told agency Interfax that all of it was recovered.

Video from the Siberian Times shows the bars strewn across the runway as people hurry to collect it.

Beyond state authorities, the airport posted online that it is also investigating the cause of the mishap.

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