MOSCOW, August 8 (Itar-Tass) —— Ten people, including three crewmen, have asked for medical assistance after a plane belonging to Irkutsk-based “IrAero” company overshot the runway at Blagoveshchensk airport. A woman has been hospitalized, a source from the Federal Air Transport Agency told Itar-Tass.
Earlier, the press service of the Head Department for Emergency Situations for the Amur region said that five were injured when the plane was landing. Three people, including a child, were hospitalized. One of the hospitalized victims is a pilot who had his arm broken in the incident, it said.
The plane performed a flight from Irkutsk to Khabarovsk with stopovers in Chita and Blagoveshchensk. Preliminary reports said that because of poor visibility and a strong wind the plane departed from the assigned trajectory and overshot the runway when landing.
The plane itself was heavily damaged; its left wing was torn off, the right wing was broken and the undercarriage was damaged. A fuel leak has been reported , but there was no fire because a heavy rain continued at the airport. «It was a miracle that the people survived,” onlookers said.
Fire fighting brigades, rescuers and ambulance brigades arrived on the scene. The survivors were consulted by psychologists.
Amur regional Governor Oleg Kozhemyako has been to the scene of the catastrophe. Deputy Chairman of the Amur regional government Konstantin Chmarov was put in charge of a special commission that is investigating the circumstances of the incident.