Plane door opens, more than three tons of gold falls to the ground
Millions of dollars worth of gold bars and precious ores fell onto an airport in Russia's Far East after a plane door burst open in mid-air.
The Russian National Investigative Committee today confirmed that the gold and precious metals fell from an An-12 aircraft of Nimbus Airlines taking off from an airport in the city of Yakutia, in the Far East region.RTreport
According to the committee, the door of the An-12 carrying more than 9 tons of "precious metal" worth 380 million USD, belonging to the Mining and Geology Company in the Chukotka region, suddenly broke when it took off from the Yakutsk airport. Photos circulating on social media showed the precious metal bars falling and lying scattered on the runway.
An official from the Kinross Gold group, which operates a mining operation in Russia, said the affected metals included gold bars, semi-pure gold alloy bars and platinum that were being transported to a refinery.
News agencyTassAccording to some Russian Interior Ministry officials, search forces recovered about 172 gold bars, weighing nearly 3.4 tons.Yakutsk airport officials announced that the An-12 aircraft took off again and landed at the airport.Magan nearby.
"I wish I was in Yakutsk," one social media user wrote on his personal account. Others joked that Yakutia is so rich that gold can fall from the sky.
