Scores of people dead in Russian passenger plane fire

At least 40 have died after a Russian plane caught fire during an emergency landing at Moscow’s busiest airport as flames and thick black smoke poured from the fuselage, Russian news agencies reported.

Only “37 out of 78 survived” the Superjet-100 crash-landing and fire, RT quoted investigators as saying.

Leaked security camera footage shows the ill-fated landing attempt of Sukhoi Superjet-100 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. The jet bounces and then smacks into the tarmac, rupturing its undercarriage and bursting into a fireball.

The alleged footage of the crash-landing was captured by an airport security video camera and uploaded to Telegram channel Baza. It shows the aircraft attempting to land at speed, but then bouncing off the runway. Another touchdown attempt is made seconds later, but the plane’s undercarriage apparently collapses, smashing its engines and triggering a massive fireball.

According to the Ria Novosti news agency, the plane had been headed to the far northwest city of Murmansk in Russia. It said initial findings suggested an electrical fault might have caused the blaze.

Investigators have opened a criminal probe into a possible breach of security rules.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also ordered a special committee to investigate the disaster, Ria Novosti agency reported.

Several flights have been diverted to other Moscow airports or Nizhny Novgorod, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of the Russian capital.