New Delhi:
A Russian plane made an emergency landing at Moscow airport after a fire broke out mid-flight on Sunday, according to initial media reports. Videos on social media show passengers using emergency exit slides to escape the aircraft. Other footage shows the plane landing while on fire and black smoke billowing from it on the tarmac. At least six people were injured during evacuation of the plane, Interfax reported.
BREAKING: Aeroflot #SU1492 Moscow Sheremetyevo to Murmansk (Sukhoi SuperJet SSJ100 RA-89098) declared an emergency & returned to SVO on fire at 1530UTC. Passengers seen evacuating. Extent of casualties not yet known. More soon...
— Airport Webcams (@AirportWebcams) May 5, 2019
Video credit & more videos: @dimsmirnov175 pic.twitter.com/HUPHJl9aIb
The Interfax agency reported that the plane, a Russian-made Superjet-100, had just taken off from Sheremetyevo airport on a domestic route when the crew issued a distress signal.
"It attempted an emergency landing but did not succeed the first time, and on the second time the landing gear hit (the ground), then the nose did, and it caught fire," a source told Interfax.
The agencies did not immediately say how many people were on board and TASS did not specify the number of injured. It said ambulances were sent to the scene of the landing and the passengers were evacuated.
Russian television showed a column of smoke towering over the plane. Other images showed the aircraft on fire as it attempted to land, then passengers leaving by a forward door.
According to the Ria Novosti news agency, the plane had been headed to the far northwest city of Murmansk in Russia. It said initial indications suggested an electrical fault might have caused the fire while the plane was in the air.Â
