A Russian airplane carrying 78 people on Sunday made an emergency landing and burst into flames just after takeoff from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, killing 40 of its passengers and a crew member.
Two children are among the dead. The jet had 73 passengers and five crew.
According to reports, the plane had landed on fire, but sources quoted by Russian news agency Interfax said the jet caught fire after a very bumpy landing.
The aircraft landed with full fuel tanks because the crew lost contact with air traffic controllers and decided it was too dangerous to dump fuel over Moscow, Interfax added.
The aircraft, a Sukhoi Superjet-100, left the airport at 18:02 local time (15:02 GMT), bound for Murmansk.
Its crew sent a distress signal when “malfunctions” occurred in bad weather shortly after take-off.
After making an emergency landing at the airport, the plane’s engines caught fire on the runway, Aeroflot said, adding that the crew “did everything to save the passengers”.
Murmansk’s Acting Governor Andrey Chibis, has reportedly said that the families of those killed in the fire will each receive one million rubles ($15,300; £11,630), while the victims being treated in hospital will be given 500,000 rubles ($7,650; £5,815).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly been briefed and expressed condolences to the families of victims.
The region of Murmansk has announced a three-day mourning period.
