Russian jet crashes kill at least 89; attack feared
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-25 13:49

A Russian airliner crashed and another apparently broke up in the air almost simultaneously after taking off from the same airport, officials said, killing all 89 people aboard and raising fears of a terrorist attack.

Russian Emergencies ministry serviceman inspects the wreckage of Russian Tupolev Tu-134 plane near Tula, some 150 km (93 miles) from Moscow, August 25, 2004. Rescuers have found flight recorders from two planes that crashed almost simultaneously in different Russian regions late on Tuesday, raising fears of a terrorist strike, the Emergency Ministry said. The planes had more than 80 people on board and no survivors have been found. [Reuters]

Authorities said rescuers found wreckage from a Tu-154 jet with at least 46 on board, about nine hours after it issued a distress signal and disappeared from radar screens over the Rostov region some 600 miles south of Moscow.

At about the same time that plane disappeared, a Tu-134 airliner carrying 43 people crashed in the Tula region, about 125 miles south of Moscow, officials said. Emergency officials said there were no survivors from either plane.

Officials made conflicting statements about whether the signal from the Tu-154 indicated a hijacking or another severe problem on the aircraft, and there was bad weather overnight in both areas. 

File photo of a Russian TU-154 (Tupolev-154) aircraft in Moscow. A Tu-154 airplane crashed near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, while a Tu-134 aircraft crashed en route to Volograd, officials said. [AFP/file]

President Vladimir Putin ordered an investigation by the nation's main intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, and security was tightened at airports across the country.

Authorities have expressed concern that separatists in war-ravaged Chechnya could carry out attacks linked to this Sunday's election to replace the region's pro-Moscow president, who was killed by a bombing in May. Rebels have been blamed for a series of terror strikes that have claimed hundreds of lives in Russia in recent years.

Witnesses reported seeing an explosion before the first plane crashed about 125 miles south of Moscow, and suspicions of terrorist involvement were compounded by the reports that the Tu-154 airliner that went missing in southern Russia's Rostov region issued a signal indicating the plane was being seized.

Two Russian passenger planes with a total of more than 80 people on board went missing within minutes of each other late on August 24, 2004. One plane bound for Volgograd was confirmed down near Tula. Officials also reported losing contact with another plane bound for Sochi near Rostov-on-Don. Both flights originated in Moscow. [Reuters]

Citing an unidentified source in Russia's government, Interfax said the signal came at 11:04 p.m., shortly before the plane disappeared from radar. Emergency and Interior Ministry sources in southern Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told The Associated Press a distress signal had been activated.

The Interfax news agency said emergency workers spotted a fire in the Rostov region, some 600 miles south of Moscow, where the Tu-154 went missing. But rainy weather hampered the search efforts and it took hours before any wreckage was found.

The regional Emergency Situations Ministry chief Viktor Shkareda told AP the plane apparently broke up in the air and that wreckage was spread over an area of some 25-30 miles. Body parts have also been found along with fragments of the plane, Interfax quoted federal Emergency Situations Ministry as saying. It said the parts were found near Gluboky, a village north of the regional capital Rostov-on-Don.

Shkareda said there were 52 people aboard the plane, while emergency officials in Moscow put the number of passengers and crew at 46.

In the Tula region, rescuers found fragments of the Tu-134 jet's tail near the village of Buchalki. Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said later there were no survivors.

Parts of a Tu-134 airliner carrying 43 people that crashed in the Tula region, about 200 kilometers south of Moscow, are seen in this image taken from television. [AP]

At about the same time that the Tu-134 crashed, the Tu-154 lost contact with flight controllers, Ryklina said. Interfax, citing Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee, said there were 44 passengers and an unknown number of crew abroad.

The Tu-154 took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 9:35 p.m. Tuesday and the other plane left 40 minutes later, state-run Rossiya television reported.

The Tu-154 belonged to the Russian airline Sibir, which said that the plane had been in service since 1982.

Quoting an unnamed air traffic official in Moscow, ITAR-Tass said that authorities were not ruling out terrorism. Interfax quoted an unnamed Russian aviation security expert as saying the fact that the two planes disappeared around the same time raised suspicions of terrorism.

ITAR-Tass reported that the authorities believe the Tu-134 fell from an altitude of 32,800 feet. It said the plane belonged to small regional airline Volga-Aviaexpress and was being piloted by the company's director, and quoted dispatchers as saying there were 34 passengers and seven crew aboard. Ryklina put the numbers at 35 and eight - a total of 43.

Interfax quoted a Domodedovo airport spokesman as saying there were no foreigners on the passenger lists for either plane.

Authorities said the Tu-134 was headed to the southern city of Volgograd, where Volga-Aviaexpress is based, while the plane that crashed in the Rostov region was flying to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where Putin is vacationing.

When Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov was told of the initial report of two near-simultaneous crashes, he said, "Now we have to see if there's terrorism."

In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday evening, said it was the understanding of American officials that the two Russian planes disappeared within four minutes of each other, which "in and of itself is suspicious."