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Small plane crash kills two in Russia

22 August 2012 20:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Two people died in a small plane crash near the city of St. Petersburg in northwest Russia, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"A light plane crashed at 15:21 Moscow time (1121 GMT). Two people died," the ministry said in a statement released on its website.

The two victims onboard the Cessna-421 light plane were identified as residents of the St. Petersburg city and the Krasnodar region, according to the ministry.

The plane, which belonged to a small airline Intertransavia, crashed into the ground near a children’s day-care facility shortly after takeoff, the ministry cited local police as saying. The plane exploded, but no one was hurt on the ground.

About 40 rescuers and firefighters rushed to the scene, while the cause of the crash is still under investigation, said the ministry.