UPDATE 2-Plane crashes in Russia
(Adds missing plane report, changes dateline from LONDON)
MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A plane carrying 62 people
crashed in Russia's Tula region south of Moscow on Tuesday,
Itar-Tass reported.
The Tu-154 aircraft, with 54 passengers and eight crew on
board, crashed near the village of Buchalki, some 180 km (110
miles) south of Moscow, the agency said, quoting a local civil
defence and emergencies official.
In a separate report, Interfax news agency said air
controllers lost contact with a Tu-154 taking 44 passengers from
Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
It quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying contact stopped
at 1900 GMT when it should have been 140 km (90 miles) from the
southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
It was not immediately clear if this was the plane that
crashed near Tula, more than 800 km (500 miles) northeast of
Rostov.
Tupolev's Tu-154 jet remains the standard medium-range
airliner on domestic flights in Russia, according to aviation
websites. Some 48 metres (157 ft) in length, it can carry up to
180 passengers for up to 4,000 km (2,500 miles).