Alwaght- Russia’s Antonov-26 transport plane crashed in Syria on Tuesday as it was about to land and all the 39 people onboard were killed, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.
"According to updated information, there were 33 passengers and six crew members aboard the An-26 transport aircraft, which crashed while landing at Hmeymim airfield. All of them were military servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces," the ministry said, stressing once again that no fire had been delivered against the plane.
"The Russian Defense Ministry’s commission is examining all possible versions of the crash," the ministry added.
"The Defense Ministry will provide all possible and necessary assistance and support to the families and relatives of those killed in the crash," the ministry stressed.
Russia’s An-26 transport plane crashed while landing at Hmeymim airfield at around 15:00 Moscow time on March 6. The plane hit the ground when it was about 500 meters short of the runway. Both the crew members and passengers were killed.
An initial statement from the defense ministry had said 32 people were killed in the crash. The ministry also said all those killed were Russian military personnel.
The defense ministry is investigating the crash, but preliminary data suggests it could be a technical malfunction. A commission to examine all possible versions of the crash has been set up.
Vladimir Putin, on an election campaign stop in the Ural mountains, was briefed on the crash via telephone by his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, and expressed his condolences to the relatives and colleagues of those killed, the Kremlin said.
Putin, who is running for re-election this month, declared in December that the Russian mission in Syria was largely completed, but casualties continue to mount.
This is the second time an An-26, a military transport aircraft capable of carrying up to 38 passengers and some 5,500 kilograms in cargo, crashes in Syria. A Syria-operated one crashed while landing at the besieged Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib in January 2015.
Russia has been conducting air raids against ISIS and other terrorist groups inside Syria at the Syrian government’s request since September 2015.
