An IL-18 airplane belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense, crashed Monday during an emergency landing in Yakutia (northern Siberia) with 39 people on board.
According to Russian media outlets, the defense ministry said 16 people were seriously injured.
The plane was reportedly carrying 32 passengers and seven crew when it came down near Tiksi in the Bulun district of Russia's far east.
The plane was carrying out a scheduled flight from Kansk when it came down about 30 kilometers short of Tiksi at 04:45 am local time.
The plane broke into three pieces in what appears to have been an emergency landing.
The flight recorders from the IL-18 have been recovered, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry said, as cited by TASS.
Citing the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, RIA Novosti reports that weather conditions were bad in the area when the crash happened.
Three Mi-8 helicopters were dispatched to the crash site by Russia's Emergency Ministry.
As well as the 16 seriously injured, another seven people on board the plane required hospital treatment.
38 people who were wounded in the crash-landing have been taken to the hospital in Tiksi, and a few of them who are severely wounded will be sent to federal hospitals, local health officials told TASS.
A defense ministry commission has left for Yakutia to gather further details about the crash-landing of IL-18, the ministry has said.
The IL-18 plane made its first flight in 1957, and became one of the best known and most durable Soviet aircraft of its era. It has been one of the world’s principal airliners for several decades and was widely exported due to its durability, with many planes reaching 45,000 flight hours and remaining in use, mostly in the military.
