Russian rescuers find missing plane in flames in far east

Russian rescuers have found the fuselage of an Antonov-24 passenger plane carrying 49 passengers that disappeared from radar earlier in Russia's far east, the emergencies ministry said Thursday.

"An Mi-8 helicopter operated by Rosaviatsiya (Russia's civil aviation authority) has spotted the burning fuselage of the aircraft," Russia's emergencies ministry said on Telegram.

Authorities confrimed on Thursday that the twin-engine Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar, regional governor Vassily Orlov said on Telegram.

The helicopter saw no evidence of survivors from above, local rescuers said. The Amur region’s civil defense agency said it was dispatching rescuers to the scene.

“At the moment, 25 people and five units of equipment have been dispatched, and four aircraft with crews are on standby,” it said.