48 people die in passenger plane crash in Russia's Far East, officials say
Moscow, Jul 24 (AP): All 48 passengers and crew onboard a passenger plane that crashed in Russia's Far East have died, the head of the country's Amur region said in a statement Thursday.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said earlier that it had found the burning fuselage of the Soviet-designed twin turbo prop plane on a hillside south of its planned destination in the town of Tynda, more than 7,000 km east of Moscow.
The plane, which was operated by the Siberia-based Angara Airlines, had initially departed from Khabarovsk before making its way to Blagoveshchensk on the Russian-Chinese border and onwards to Tynda.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash. Russia's Interfax news agency said there were adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services.
Several Russian news outlets also reported that the aircraft was almost 50 years old, citing data taken from the plane's tail number.
Images of the reported crash site circulated by Russian state media show debris scattered among dense forest, surrounded by plumes of smoke.
Regional Gov Vasily Orlov said rescuers struggled to reach the site due to its remote location, 15 km south of Tynda.
The transport prosecutor's office in the Far East said in an online statement that the plane was attempting to land for a second time when it lost contact with air traffic control and disappeared from radars.
Orlov announced three days of mourning in the Amur region to mark the disaster, which he described as a “terrible tragedy”.
A previous statement from the governor said that 49 people had been onboard the flight. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.
The authorities have launched a probe on the charge of flight safety violations that resulted in multiple deaths, a standard procedure in aviation accidents.
Aviation incidents have been frequent in Russia, especially in recent years as international sanctions have squeezed the country's aviation sector.
#BREAKING
— Nabila Jamal (@nabilajamal_) July 24, 2025
Wreckage of missing Russian An-24 plane found on a mountainside, 15km from Tynda in Far East Russia
All 49 people onboard including 43 passengers, 5 children & 6 crew members are feared dead
No survivors reported#Russia #angaraairlines https://t.co/DS7mMuGPVI pic.twitter.com/xZxrs8l3Wu
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
