Russia Says 49 People Aboard Crashed Plane

16 March 2005 -- Russia's Transportation Ministry said today that a plane that crashed in the country's far north had at least 49 people aboard.
16 March 2005 -- Russia's Transportation Ministry said today that a plane that crashed in the country's far north had at least 49 people aboard.

The An-24 two-engine plane crashed and caught fire while trying to land at an airport in the Nenets autonomous region near Russia's Arctic coast.

The Transportation Ministry said 45 people and four crew members were on the plane when it left the city of Ufa, the capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan.

Most of the passengers were oil workers who worked in the region.

(AP/AFP/dpa)