Putin orders inquiry into Russian plane crash

Russian emergency workers are searching snow-covered fields outside Moscow for clues after a fatal plane crash killed all 71 people on board.


President Vladimir Putin has ordered a special commission to investigate what caused the crash.

The AN-148 plane operated by Saratov Airlines crashed outside Moscow shortly after taking off for the city of Orsk, about 1,500km southeast of the capital.

Among the possible causes investigators are looking into are weather conditions, human error and the plane's technical condition. The plane's crew did not send any distress signals.

Experts are analysing the two flight recorders recovered in the wreckage, as well as plane fragments.

Footage from a CCTV camera, which captured some of what happened, was posted online. It showed what looked like a large ball of fire streaking through the sky.

Debris and human remains are spread over a radius of a kilometre around the crash site, investigators have said.

Officials from Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry told a meeting broadcast on state TV this morning that DNA tests were being organised with the relatives of those killed to try to identify body fragments.

The plane, manufactured in 2010, had been carrying 65 passengers and six crew members.

The passenger list showed many young people were on board, including a five-year-old girl.
 (RTE)
 12/2/18