Russia: Forty-five people were killed when a Tupolev-134 aircraft operated by RusAir crashed near Petrozavodsk, the largest city in Karelia, at 23:45hrs on June 20.

The plane, which was en route from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow to Petrozavodsk, is said to have crashed a highway short of the airport runway. Reports say it narrowly missed a nearby village.

As it hit the ground, the aircraft burst into flames and the first firefighting units were on the scene within five minutes, according to EMERCOM of Russia: “At 00:30hrs, the fire was contained, and at 00:46hrs, was completely extinguished,” according to an official release.

A few hours later, an Ilyushin-76 was dispatched to the site. In effect, says EMERCOM of Russia, this is a flying resuscitation ambulance, which carries three advanced medical units on board and can transport badly injured people.

Five survivors were airlifted to hospitals in Moscow. Other survivors were not well enough to be transported and subsequently, a child died from his injuries.

EMERCOM psychologists, led by the Director of the Psychological Aid Centre, arrived in Petrozavodsk, and began working to counsel relatives of the deceased.

Overall, says the Emergency Situations Ministry, 325 personnel and 58 items of specialist rescue equipment were deployed at this incident.