— 19th March 2016
(BBC) A passenger jet has crashed in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all 55 passengers and seven crew on board, officials say.
The FlyDubai Boeing 737-800, coming from Dubai, missed the runway as it attempted to land at 03:50 local time (00:50 GMT) on Saturday.
It is not clear what caused the crash but poor visibility and high winds are being considered as a factor.
Most of the victims were Russian. Four children were among the dead.
FlyDubai said 44 Russians, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and an Uzbek were killed. All were passengers.
All but one of the crew were Russians, a Russian emergency ministry statement said, without giving further details.
CCTV footage showed an explosion and a huge flash after the plane crashed.
“The aircraft hit the ground and broke into pieces,” the Investigative Committee of Russia said on its website.
Reports say the plane abandoned its initial attempt to land and circled for two hours before crashing at the second attempt.
It came down about 250m (800ft) short of the start of the runway in Rostov, some 950km (600 miles) south of Moscow.
About 700 rescue workers were sent to the site of the crash and the fire was extinguished, media reports said.
FlyDubai is a low cost carrier based in the United Arab Emirates
Both the plane’s flight data recorders have been found and an investigation has been opened into the cause of the crash.
Other flights have been diverted away from the airport.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the airliner confirmed the “tragic accident” and said an emergency response has been put in place.
Boeing said on Twitter its team was working to gather more details.
FlyDubai, a low cost carrier launched in 2009 with a hub in Dubai, operates flights to some 90 destinations.
Eze Afrika
