Large cargo plane crashes in Siberia, killing four

A Belarusian cargo plane crashed on Wednesday while trying to land in eastern Russia, killing at least four of the seven people on board, officials said.

Russian emergency workers said rescuers have found four bodies after the Soviet-built An-12 operated by Belarusian carrier Grodno went down in Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia.

The plane caught fire when it crashed, and all those on board were believed dead. The company that owned the plane said there were seven people on it.

The aircraft was flying from Bilibino in the Chukotka region in Russia’s northeast and made a stopover in Yakutsk before continuing to Irkutsk, reports AP.

Russian news reports said it crashed while making a second approach after failing to land in a first attempt. The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately clear.

The An-12 is a four-engine turboprop cargo plane designed in the 1950s. Hundreds have been built and many remain in service in Russia, other ex-Soviet countries and other nations around the world.