A RUSSIAN Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo plane crashed near the western city of Ryazan in Russia on Friday June 24. Multiple casualties have been reported.

The Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo plane, which is the main aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces – crashed at 3:18 a.m. (local time) near the Russian city of Ryazan, according to Russian media reports.

Video footage circulating online shows the plane on fire with thick black smoke billowing out following a reported engine failure.

According to the first reports, the Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo plane was carrying nine passengers, three died in the crash and the other six were seriously injured.

The Ilyushin Il-76 military cargo aircraft was one of the main transport aircraft of the USSR Air Force.

Russian state media suggest the accident was due to an engine malfunction.

“During the training flight without load, due to an identified engine malfunction, the crew decided to land on the ground.” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, June 24.

“According to preliminary data, power lines were damaged as a result of the plane crash,” a source told TASS.

As a result of the impact of the plane against the power lines “there was a blackout on two streets: Bibliotechnaya and Sitnikovskaya. Residential buildings were left without power,” the source said. According to Baza, the military plane was flying from Belgorod to Orenburg. In Ryazan, at the Dyagilev airfield, the IL-76 landed for refueling.

Having refueled, the behemoth took off at 3:05 am and crashed a few minutes later. In April, a Russian helicopter crashed in the southwestern Russian city of Saratov. According to Russian media reports on Thursday, April 28, the crash occurred during a training flight and killed at least one person.

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