Passengers of a Moscow-bound plane that burnt out at an airport in Siberia on Saturday killing three have arrived at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on board a reserve plane.
One of the engines of the Tu-154M passenger jet caught fire as the plane taxied toward the runway in the Siberian city of Surgut. The fire then spread to the entire aircraft, killing at least three passengers.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said 44 people were injured in the fire, while the Health Ministry put the figure at 43. The ministry has not confirmed the number of those killed.
"When a fire was reported on board the plane, panics broke out... Flight attendants were trying to help passengers get out of the burning airliner," one of the plane's passengers told RIA Novosti.
Some 20 out of the 116 passengers of the troubled plane have arrived in Moscow, she added.
Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Saturday that the plane crew and airport officials have done their best to evacuate the passengers as soon as possible, however eyewitnesses said fire exits had been closed for a long time and the passengers had to jump out of the plane through flames.
A criminal case has been opened over the accident.
MOSCOW, January 2 (RIA Novosti)
