MOSCOW —
Russia on Tuesday said a “technical
malfunction” probably caused a military jet to crash into a block of flats in
Yeysk, near Ukraine, killing at least 13 people, including three children.
اضافة اعلان
Investigators said they were questioning the pilots
of the Sukhoi Su-34, who managed to parachute out of the plane before it
crashed on Monday into the nine-story building, engulfing it in flames.
Nineteen people were injured, four of them
critically.
The crash was probably caused by “a technical
malfunction”, Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes,
said.
It said it had launched a criminal inquiry into
possible violations of flight rules and had “seized fuel samples at the
departure aerodrome” and “flight recorders at the site of the crash”.
Russia’s defense ministry said the jet collided with
the block, which was home to around 600 people, during a training flight.
“The pilots who managed to eject, as well as the
airfield personnel, are being questioned,” the investigators said.
On Tuesday, when the ministry of emergency
situations said rescuers had ended their search for survivors in the rubble,
the southern seaside town was in shock.
Putin ‘expresses deep condolences’
Grieving locals left flowers and children’s toys to a makeshift memorial
near the residential building, where a black board read “Yeysk. 17.10.2022. We
remember. We mourn.”
They placed red
roses, candles, and smiling teddy bears around the board, in memory of the
three children killed by the crash.
Officials said
four people, including a five-year-old girl and a teenage boy, were in critical
condition and had been taken for treatment to regional hub Krasnodar.
The Kremlin said
Tuesday that President
Vladimir Putin “expresses deep condolences to those
families who lost their loves ones as a result of this disaster.”
Images of the
dramatic crash showed the burnt-out fuselage of the plane, which snapped in two
on impact.
One of its
mangled wings bore a red star — the symbol of the Russian army.
The remains of
wrecked parked cars littered the foot of the building, trapped when the blaze
engulfed at least five of its floors.
Yeysk, a city of
around 85,000, lies on the Sea of Azov. A narrow gulf separates it from
southeastern Ukraine and the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol.
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