Firefighters work at the site of a plane crash in a residential building in Irkutsk, Russia.
Irkutsk, Russia:
A Russian military jet crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday and killed two pilots, officials said, the second such fatality involving a Sukhoi fighter jet in six days.
In a post on Telegram, Igor Kobzaev, the governor of Irkutsk, said the plane crashed into a two-story house in the city. He published a video showing firefighters climbing over the rubble and directing jets of water at the still smoldering debris.
The governor said no one was hurt on the ground.
Officials said the aircraft during the test flight was a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet. Last Monday, a Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, and killed at least 15 people.
Officials said a preliminary investigation into the disaster – in which the pilots ejected – pointed to a technical fault in the plane.
Videos from Sunday’s incident shared on social media showed the plane diving almost vertically before crashing into a fireball, sending thick black smoke into the sky. Kobzev said 150 nearby homes had no electricity and that restoration work was underway.
Russia’s state investigative committee said it had launched a criminal investigation into air safety violations.
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