Cargo plane crashes near Moscow killing 8

MOSCOW: A cargo aircraft on Sunday crashed shortly after take off from an airport in the Russian capital killing 8 people including 5 crew members.

The Siberia-bound Antonov An-12 plane of Atran airlines on Moscow-Omsk-Brats flight took off from Domodedovo airport at 4.16 am and crashed four kilometers away from the runway before bursting into flames.

According to Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov, the plane crashed between a local graveyard and a village and there were no immediate reports of casualties on the ground.

Four fire brigades and rescue teams were rushed to the site but due to low clouds and heavy rain a rescue helicopter could not be sent.

Quoting authorities at the Domodedovo airport, ITAR-TASS reported that no bodies of the eight people killed have been recovered as they are believed to have been completely charred in the fire that broke out after the ill-fated plane hit the ground.

The search is on for the flight recorders and the civil aviation authority has launched a probe into the incident.

On Saturday, five persons, including pilot of a Robinson-44 light helicopter, were killed when the copter crashed in Udmurtia (Volga region) after hitting a power transmission line.