Two Armenians Confirmed Dead in Russian Plane Crash

MOSCOW — A Russian passenger plane crashed near Moscow soon after take-off on Sunday, killing all 71 people on board, and investigators said they were looking at all possible causes, Reuters reports.

Two Armenians have been confirmed among the victims of the crash. The list of passengers published by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations include the name of an Armenian woman identified as Varsik Sevoyan among the 65 passengers on board. The other victim Sergey Ghambaryan was the second pilot of the plane.

Temperatures were around minus 5 degrees Celsius with periodic snowfall when the short-haul AN-148 operated by Saratov Airlines took off for the city of Orsk in Orenburg region, about 900 miles (1,500 km) southeast of the capital.

TV images of the crash site showed wreckage of the plane, including at least one engine, lying in fields covered with thick snow.

Debris and human remains were spread over a radius of a kilometer from the crash site, investigators said.

Russian officials say they are considering weather conditions, human error and technical failure as possible causes. No distress signals had been received from the crew.