A plane carrying 49 people has gone missing from radar over Russia’s Amur region in the Far East, local authorities reported on Thursday.
According to regional Governor Vasily Orlov, the aircraft was en route from Blagoveshchensk, near the Chinese border, to the town of Tynda. On board were 43 passengers—including five children—and six crew members.
Emergency services later located the wreckage of the missing Angara Airlines An-24 aircraft roughly 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Tynda, its intended destination. Officials said the plane disappeared from radar during its final approach to the airport, reports BBC.
Governor Orlov confirmed that all available resources had been mobilized for the search. Soon after, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that a civil aviation helicopter had spotted the plane's burning fuselage.
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According to a report from the TASS news agency, the wreckage was found on a hillside, and rescue teams were en route to the site.
The aircraft was completing the last leg of a journey that began in Khabarovsk, a city in southeastern Russia.