YASK, Russia, Oct 17 (Reuters) – A Russian fighter jet crashed into an apartment building in the southern city of Yeysk on Monday, engulfing a fireball in apartments, killing four people, officials said.
Six other people are missing.
Military news channel Zvezda has published a video showing explosions aboard the Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic fighter jet, a medium-range bomber, as it rushes towards the apartments. Russian agencies said the pilots had been expelled.
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RIA quoted local emergency services as saying four were killed and six were missing. The TASS news agency quoted the headquarters of the rescue efforts as saying that 25 were wounded.
Anna Minkova, Deputy Governor of the Krasnodar Region, earlier wrote on Telegram that three people had died and 10 others had been hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.
RIA said authorities had booked 600 beds in hotels and guesthouses to house those forced to leave the building.
A view shows the site of a plane crash on an apartment building in the southern city of Yeisk, Russia, October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer
Footage from the scene showed fires in large parts of the building after the accident. Local authorities later said the fire had been put out.
The state-owned RIA news agency said the accident occurred during a training flight from a military airport. It quoted the Ministry of Defense as saying that the pilots reported an engine igniting on takeoff, and then the plane’s fuel igniting when it hit the building.
The Russian State Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal case and sent investigators to the scene.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had ordered all necessary assistance to be provided to the victims. He ordered the Ministers of Health and Emergency to go to the area.
The governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, said the fire broke out in a nine-storey building.
“The fire engulfed several floors at once. Initial damage was caused to 17 apartments,” he said on Telegram.
The incident comes nearly eight months after Russia sent troops into Ukraine. Yeisk is separated from the occupied Russian territories in southern Ukraine by a narrow stretch of the Sea of Azov.
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Reporting by Reuters. Written by Mark Trevelyan. Editing by Jay Faulconbridge, Sandra Mahler, David Leungren and Angus McSwan
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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