A Russian passenger plane with 8 crew and 54 passengers on board
crashed in Tula region on Tuesday, Itar-Tass news agency said.
The Tu-154 airliner crashed near the villager of Buchalki, some
180 kilometers south of Moscow, the news agency quoted a duty
officer at the local regional emergencies department as saying.
Another Russian passenger plane with 44 people on board crashed
in southern Rostov region on Tuesday. Itar-Tass quoted a Russia's
aviation committee official assaying that the Tu-154 airliner
crashed near the city of Rostov-on-Don, some 970 kilometers south
of Moscow.
Interfax quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying contacts with
the Tu-154 flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were
lost at 22:59 Moscow time (18:59 GMT) when it was expected to be
140 kilometers from the city.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2004)