At least 120 die in Russian plane crash

From ITV News:

At least 120 die in Russian plane crash

9.22AM, Sun Jul 9 2006

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At least 120 passengers have died after a Russian passenger plane crashed in Siberia on Sunday.

The Airbus A-310 was carrying 200 when it crashed and caught fire on landing in the city of Irkutsk.

According to the Russian emergency ministry, rescuers have so far recovered 120 bodies, while 53 survivors have been taken to hospital.

The plane had made a 5,000 km night flight from Moscow carrying 192 passengers and 8 crew when it overshot the runway, and crashed into a concrete wall and buildings nearby at 2250 GMT Saturday.

Many of those on board were holidaymakers on their way to Lake Baikal, a popular Siberian spot in summer.

Television pictures from the scene showed the smoking ruins of the Airbus, which ploughed into garage buildings adjacent to the runway. Only the plane's tail section was left intact.

Around 600 rescue workers were at the scene, working in rainy weather and poor visibility. They used cutting equipment to recover bodies from the smouldering wreckage.

A spokesman for Sibir, the company that operated the plane, said they had no information on the cause of the accident.

Last May an Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia, with 113 passengers and crew flying from Yerevan to the Russian seaside resort Sochi, crashed in the Black Sea while trying to land in bad weather. Everyone on board was killed.