This image from video provided by Instagram user @artempetrovich, shows the SSJ-100 aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines on fire during an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. Photo / via AP
This image from video provided by Instagram user @artempetrovich, shows the SSJ-100 aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines on fire during an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. Photo / via AP
At least 13 people were killed when a Russian plane exploded into flames as it made an emergency landing at Moscow's main international airport.
Two children are among those confirmed dead following the inferno on the Sukhoi Superjet at Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday, the Russian Investigative Committee said.
Terrified passengerswere seen fleeing the Russian national carrier Aeroflot plane as flames flared from the rear of the aircraft with a reported 78 on board.
An airport official said that "many passengers delayed emergency evacuation - because against all instructions - they were picking up hand luggage from overhead compartments."
The Aeroflot plane made an emergency landing following a fire aboard soon after take-off from Russia's capital to the Arctic city of Murmansk.
Initial indications suggest an electrical fault might have caused the fire while the plane was in the air.
TASS news agency, citing a medical source, said at least 13 people were killed and that others remained unaccounted for. Agencies reported various figures on the number of injured - from five to more than 10.
One witness said: "It is a miracle anyone has survived."
Interfax agency reported that the plane, a Russian-made Superjet-100, had just taken off from Sheremetyevo airport on a domestic route when the crew issued a distress signal.
"It attempted an emergency landing but did not succeed the first time, and on the second time the landing gear hit (the ground), then the nose did, and it caught fire," a source told Interfax.
It reported that the tail was completely burned and said a rescue team was trying to find survivors in that part of the plane.
Ambulances were sent to the scene of the landing and the passengers were evacuated, with the airport now closed for arrivals and departures.
The airline said the number of victims was "being specified" and that emergency medical care was being provided to the injured.
The Sukhoi SSJ-100 aircraft of Aeroflot Airlines, centre, is seen after an emergency landing in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia. Photo / AP
Footage showed a column of smoke towering over the plane. Other images showed the aircraft on fire as it attempted to land, then distraught passengers leaving by a forward door.
Video captured passengers leaping from the plane onto an inflatable slide from the front of the aircraft and staggering across the tarmac.
The stricken plane was clearly visible from the main terminals at the airport in the north of Moscow and a British Airways plane could be seen on the tarmac alongside it.
A passenger called mikkentosh posted on social media: "Guys I am all right, I am alive and in one piece.
"I managed to jump out. This was the 17.50 Moscow to Murmansk flight. Definitely not everyone managed to escape, huge condolences to families and friends."
Russian officials have so far only confirmed the death of one person, with the Investigative Committee adding that at least four were injured in the explosion. But the Emergencies Ministry said six people had been hospitalised.
Flightradar24 tracking shows the aircraft made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes.
The plane is less than two-years-old. Its first flight was reported to be in June 2017.
Criminal investigators are examining the cause of the crash amid reports that an electrical fault had caused the inferno after take-off.
Other local reports suggest the plane had suffered "communications problems" and the fire engulfed the Sukhoi as it returned to Moscow to land.
The plane had registration number RA-89098. Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes.
