Forty-four people died and a handful of survivors were fighting for their lives after an overnight airliner crash in north-western Russia, the Civil Defence Ministry reported Tuesday. The Russair charter flight from Moscow crashed about midnight (2000 GMT Monday) as it approached its destination, Petrozavodsk, 400 kilometres north-east of St Petersburg in Russia's Republic of Karelia, which borders Finland. The Tupolev Tu-134, with 43 passengers and a crew of nine, made a hard landing on a highway about a kilometre from the airport at Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia, according to news reports. A possible failure of communications between the air crew and ground controllers and thick fog could have been contributing factors, airline officials told the Interfax news agency. Russian Transportation Minister Igor Levitin was in Petrozavodsk and government inspectors were conducting a review of Russair safety procedures, according to news reports. "Seven people are in extremely critical condition," said Irina Andrianova, a Russia Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman. "All the survivors suffered injuries and burns."
