Forty four people have been killed when a passenger plane crashed in heavy fog in northwestern Russia.
Local media report the RusAir plane broke up and burst into flames after coming down on a highway near the airport in Petrozavodsk, its planned final destination in Karelia, which borders Finland.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said eight people survived the crash — including a 10-year-old boy — and have been hospitalized in critical condition.
According to Interfax, bodies littered the highway.
At least one foreigner, a Swedish man, was among the dead.
Russian authorities said eight children were on board.
The plane reportedly came very close to hitting nearby houses.
The plane was traveling from Moscow and crashed shortly before midnight.
The plane was a Russian-made Tu-134 jet.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently criticized the kinks in domestically-made planes and the nation’s poor safety record.
compiled from agency reports