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11th Feb 2018

Russian plane crashes and 71 people on board are feared dead

Footage showing the alleged crash site of a Saratov Airlines plane near Moscow has emerged online

Oli Dugmore

Footage allegedly showing the crash site of a Saratov Airlines plane near Moscow has emerged online

Video from the crash site appears to show pieces of wreckage in a snow-covered field.

State broadcaster and mouthpiece of the Kremlin Russia Today uploaded the footage to YouTube.

After leaving Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, the Antonov An-148 jet carrying 71 people reportedly crashed in the countryside near the Russian capital on Sunday.

All those on board are thought to have died, officials told Russian media.

The Saratov Airlines plane disappeared from radar moments after take-off and crashed about 50 miles south-east of Moscow.

Russia’s EMERCOM confirmed that rescuers which arrived at the crash site and found two bodies from the plane.

The jet was heading toward the city of Orsk close to the border with Kazakhstan.

Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 tweeted that the aircraft was descending at 1,000m per minute, or 38mph, five minutes after taking off.

In 2015 Saratov Airlines was banned from operating international flights when surprise inspectors found someone other than the flight crew was in the cockpit.

It flies mainly between Russian cities but also has destinations in Armenia and Georgia, after appealing the ban and changing its policies.