The incident took place in 19:45 local time. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the airplane exploded after it touched the land.

The Emergencies Ministry said there were 44 passengers and six crew members on the flight and all of them died in the result of the accident.

Among the dead was Irek Minnikhanov, a son of the president of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan and head of local Department of Federal Security Service Aleksandr Antonov.

A government commission is being set up to investigate the cause. There were no immediate indications of what may have caused the crash, but reports said the pilot had already tried to land twice before - and crashed on the third attempt. Mistake of pilots can be reason for the accident. Among considered versions are bad weather factor and technical problems.