Missing Russian firefighting plane found

The Il-76 aircraft that went missing on July 1 while on a mission to put out large forest fires in Russia's Irkutsk province has been found.

A Russian Il-76 rescue aircraft (center) performs with Su-27 fighter jets at an air show in Kubinka, Russia on May 21. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)

The search team for the plane announced on July 3 that a ground rescue team had found the Il-76 on the side of a mountain in the search area previously identified as one of the possible crash sites.

The search team also said the plane was heavily damaged. Rescue agencies have sent additional rescue forces to the scene to assist in the search.

The Russian aviation agency said it was likely the plane crashed into a mountain in poor visibility conditions, flying at low altitude. However, this is only a hypothesis and the investigation agency has only just begun to investigate the scene.

According to Russia's TASS news agency, the Il-76 aircraft, which belongs to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, went missing while flying at an altitude of 3,000 meters. There were a total of 11 people on board, including firefighters and crew.

According to VIETNAM+