A military cargo plane crashed Friday in Russia’s Ryazan region, 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow, killing four people and injuring five, local authorities said.
“According to preliminary information, four people died as a result of a plane crash in the Mikhailovsky highway area in the city of Ryazan,” according to a statement from the crisis unit formed by the regional government.
According to the same source, five injured were hospitalized, in different but stable states.
“During a non-cargo training flight, due to an identified engine malfunction, the crew decided to land. The plane was partially destroyed when it came into contact with the ground,” said a statement from the Ministry of Defense quoted by Russian agencies, stating that the injured crew members were taken to hospital.
The aircraft that crashed is an Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft, which began manufacturing in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s.
According to TASS, the plane crashed in a field in the immediate vicinity of residential buildings, near a highway, starting a fire which has since been extinguished.
According to a witness quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, the crash occurred around 4 a.m. local time.
The authorities did not give details on the trajectory of this plane.
Military planes crashed several times in June near the border with Ukraine, where Russia has been carrying out a military offensive since the end of February, the army citing possible technical problems.