Russia plane crash: Two dead and tower block in flames after military aircraft comes down

John Dunne @jhdunne18 October 2022

A military aircraft has crashed in a residential area of the southern Russian town of Yeysk, killing at least two people and injuring 15, according to local reports.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the plane, a Su-34 fighter bomber, was on a training flight when one of its engines caught fire.

The pilots in the aircraft ejected before the crash into the nine storey building, the ministry said.

Its statement added: “According to a report from the pilots, who jettisoned from the plane, the reason for the crash was a fire in one of the engines during take-off.”

“At the point where the Su-34 came down, in the courtyard of a residential block, the plane’s fuel supply caught fire.”

Yeysk, a city of about 90,000, is home to a major Russian air base.

In a telegram social media post the governor of the Krasnodar territory, which Yeysk is part of, said he was on his way to the town and all regional and local fire services were battling the blaze.

Local media report the fire engulfed five floors of the multi-storey building and a number of apartment blocks have been damaged.

The Kremlin has ordered national and regional authorities to provide “all necessary assistance” to victims of the fire in the centre of the southern city of Yeysk, Tass news agency reports.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case and sent investigators to the site of the crash, without giving any reasons, Reuters news agency reported.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in