Russia fighter jet crashes in residential area, kills 13

A Russian fighter plane crashed into a residential building in the southern city of Yeysk shortly after it took off Monday killing 13 people following an inferno that engulfed the apartments.

Reuters reported that 19 people also suffered multiple degrees of injuries in the incident that went down in Yeysk, a city alienated from occupied Russian territory in southern Ukraine by a narrow stretch of the Sea of Azov.Military news channel Zvezda published a video which revealed explosions aboard the Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic medium-range fighter bomber as it plunged towards the apartments.

Footage from the site disclosed large parts of the nine-storey building on fire after the crash but local authorities later said the blaze had been put out.

In some reports, the plane was loaded with ammunition but Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev denied such reports.

“If that had been the case, then only half the building would be here,” Russia Information Agency (RIA) cited him as telling reporters.

The crash has led to the evacuation of around 250 people including 40 children, as RIA said the air accident took place during a training flight from a military airfield.

It quoted the defence ministry as saying the pilots reported an engine had caught fire on takeoff, and the plane’s fuel had then ignited when it struck the building.