44 killed in Russian airplane crash

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44 killed in Russian airplane crash

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A passenger jet crashed in heavy fog on a highway in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people.

21 June,2011 08:31 am

According to officials only eight people survived the crash.The Tu-134 plane was en route from Moscow went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing one to two kilometers short of the runway.It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, officials said. Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 640 kilometres northwest of Moscow.Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the Interfax news agency quoted the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were unfavorable weather conditions.Russian news agencies reported there may have also been problems with runway illumination.