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Russian fighter jet crashes into house in Siberia

A Russian military plane has crashed into a residential area in southern Siberia, local authorities have said.

The Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft landed on a two-storey house in the city of Irkutsk, regional governor, Igor Kobzev, posted on Telegram.

The governor said he was at the scene and both pilots had been killed, but residents were not hurt.

According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the jet was on a test flight when it came down.

Footage on social media showed the plane diving almost vertically before crashing in a fireball, sending thick black smoke into the sky.Another video depicted firefighters putting out the blaze.

Russia’s state Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into violations of air safety rules.It was the second incident of its kind in six days.

Last Monday, a Sukhoi Su-34 military jet crashed into an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, killing at least 15 people.

An apartment block was set on fire and emergency services called in. A nearby school was evacuated, reports say.

Russia’s Defence ministry said the plane, a Su-34 fighter bomber, was on a training flight when one of its engines caught fire on Monday evening.The pilots in the aircraft ejected before the crash, the ministry said.

Footage has emerged apparently showing local residents trying to help one of the pilots lying on the ground nearby with a parachute behind him.

“According to a report from the pilots, who jettisoned from the plane, the reason for the crash was a fire in one of the engines during take-off,” the Russian Defence ministry said in a statement.

“At the point where the Su-34 came down, in the courtyard of a residential block, the plane’s fuel supply caught fire.”

In a telegram post (in Russian), the governor of the Krasnodar territory, which Yeysk is part of, said he was on his way to the town and all regional and local fire services were battling the blaze. -BBC

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