The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency denied on Tuesday earlier reports that remains of a crashed An-12 aircraft in Russia’s Far East were discovered.
The Far East Transport Prosecutor’s Office reported earlier that the crashed An-12 transport aircraft with eleven people on board was discovered near a gold and silver mine in the Omsukcha district of the Magadan region.
“The aircraft was not found. It is currently nighttime in the search area and it also raining heavily, complicating rescue efforts,” Sergei Izvolsky, a spokesman for the transport agency, said.
The An-12 transport plane carrying nine crew members, two passengers and 16 metric tons of food disappeared at 7:34 a.m. Moscow time (03:34 GMT) some 300 kilometers from its take-off point.
It went off radar screens while en route from Magadan to Chukotka shortly after reporting a fuel leak and fire in an engine.