Russian IL-76 catches fire mid-air and crashes into forest belt. Photo

In Russia, a plane caught fire in the sky above the Severny airfield in the Ivanovo region. The fire engulfed the left engine, the pilot tried to make an emergency landing but the aircraft crashed instead.

Black smoke is now billowing from the crash site near the village of Bogorodskoye. This was reported by Russian Telegram channels. It is noted that there were 15 people on board the plane: 8 crew members and 7 passengers.

Russian media sources report that 5 bodies were found at the crash site. The remaining 10 people are likely to have died as well.

Local channels note that the plane was allegedly shot down. It is noted that there are no casualties or damage on the ground, and emergency services have arrived at the scene.

The Mash Telegram channel voiced a different version of the cause of the crash: a bird hitting the plane's engine.

The propagandists wrote that the aircraft was conducting a training flight and had been in the air for only a few minutes. The engine caught fire when the plane was making a turn. Previously, the pilot tried to reach the airfield, but when he realized that he could not do so, he turned the aircraft away from residential buildings. As a result, the airplane crashed in a forest belt near a cemetery.