Russian passenger plane crashes in Siberia

A Russian passenger plane has crashed in Siberia, killing at least 29 of the 43 people on board, according to state media. The ATR 72, a twin-engine, turbo-propeller airplane, crashed on Monday about 30-35km from the Western Siberian city of Tyumen. "Twenty nine people are reported now to have died, and 14 others evacuated or rescued," Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reporting from Moscow said, citing state media. "We're also hearing that two black boxes, the flight recorders, have been recovered from the flight, and emergency services have put out the fires." The plane took off from the Siberian town of Tyumen and was heading towards Surgut when it crashed. Children among victims According to Russian news agencies, the plane disappeared from radar screens shortly after take-off and crashed about 40km from the airport at around 7:50am (01:50 GMT). Rescue teams found the plane's cabin ablaze along with other debris. The aircraft burst into flames and broke into pieces upon impact, Russia Today television said. It also said that children were among the victims of the crash. Survivors are said to have sustained serious injuries and burns and were transported to a nearby hospital by helicopter, and five survivors were in the hospital in critical condition, the television station said. "This particular airline does have a history of air accidents... but at this point there are no details on exactly what happened," our correspondent said. "It seems as if a criminal investigation has opened on the case... We don't know what caused the crash at this stage." Thanks : AlJazeera