Firefighting vehicles park near a Tupolev-154 passenger plane that caught fire and blew up in Surgut Airport in Western Siberia in this still image taken from video Saturday. (Reuters) MOSCOW: Three people were killed Saturday and more than 30 injured when an aircraft burst into flames before take-off on a runway at an airport in Russia's Far North, the Russian prosecutor's office said. The office's panel investigating the accident said it launched a probe “for violation of security and operational regulations of a Tu-154 aircraft that caused the death of three people” who were being identified. “More than 30 are in hospitals of the town of Surgut,” it said in a statement. Interfax news agency quoted local prosecutors as saying that a child was among the three dead. A spokesman for the emergencies ministry said at least 46 people were injured. The Tupolev-154 with 116 passengers and eight crew on board had been due to fly from Surgut in the Far North of Russia's Urals region to Moscow. Reports said the plane was completely burned in the accident. The plane had started burning while taxiing on the runway at Surgut ahead of take-off, the investigative committee said in a statement. “The emergency services were unable to put out the fire and there was an explosion. The passengers and members of the crew were evacuated before the explosion.” Russian news agencies named the airline as regional carrier Kogalymavia. It was not clear what had caused the accident, said an official. – Agence France
