62 killed in plane crash in Russia

All 55 passengers and seven crew of a passenger jet were killed on Saturday when the plane crashed in southern Russia, officials said.

The Dubai Media Office says those killed in the crash include 44 Russians, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one from Uzbekistan.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, crashed at 03:50 (0030 GMT) at the airport in Rostov at the end of a flight from Dubai.

Abandoned initial attempt

The aircraft had to abandon an initial attempt to land and came down while making a repeat attempt, according to a Ministry statement.

An official from the investigative committee, a state body that routinely investigates major incidents, told Reuters from Rostov that “according to preliminary information” everyone on board the jet had died.

Most commuters were Russian

Most of the passengers on board were Russian, the regional governor said on television.

“Three foreigners were on the passenger list of the plane, but that information needs checking,” an Emergency Ministry official said on Rossiya-24 news channel.

Flydubai probing an ‘incident’

Dubai-based airline Flydubai said on Saturday that it was investigating an “incident” regarding one of its flights to southern Russia.

“We are aware of an incident involving our flight FZ981 from Dubai to Rostov-On-Don. We are investigating further details and will publish an update once more information is available,” the budget carrier wrote on its official Facebook page.

Providing aid the priority: Putin

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that assistance to the relatives of those killed in the plane crash was the priority, local news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

“The head of the state said that now the main thing is to work with the families and the loved ones of those who had died,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying.

Pilot error or technical failure most likely cause?

The Investigative Committee of Russia has said that it is looking into a pilot error or a technical failure as the most likely cause for the plane crash that killed 62 in southern Russia, Russian news agencies reported.

“At present, we are looking into two main theories for the plane crash in Rostov-on-Don: pilot error in connection with deteriorating weather conditions or a technical error,” Interfax news agency cited a representative of the Committee, Oksana Kovrizhnaya, as saying