Rescuers Fear No Survivors in Russian Plane Crash

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WIRE:10/25/2000 14:37:00 ET Rescuers Fear No Survivors in Russian Plane Crash TBILISI, Georgia (Reuters) - A Russian military plane with 75 people on board crashed Wednesday near the Georgian port of Batumi and rescuers rushed to the scene were quoted as saying they did not expect to find any survivors. Russian and Georgian officials said Ilyushin-18 four-engine propeller-driven plane with 64 passengers and 11 crew crashed and exploded near the port of Batumi, the capital of Georgia"s autonomous region of Adzhara where Russia has a military base. "After such an explosion hardly anyone could survive, though rescue efforts will continue," Russia"s Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the Adzhara emergencies authority, whose rescue teams were at the disaster site. Georgia"s parliamentary deputy from Adzhara, Georgy Targamadze, said by telephone that local residents saw a plane descending rapidly in a mountainous area some 25 km (15 miles) east of Batumi at around 6:15 p.m. (1315 GMT). "Then they heard a huge explosion," Targamadze said. Russia"s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Georgian officials as saying fire caused by the crash could be seen several km (miles) away. A spokeswoman for Russia"s Emergency Ministry said the Ilyushin-18 was flying from a military airport outside Moscow to Batumi. She could give no details. Targamadze said the crash took place in a mountainous area between Batumi and the town of Kabuleti. Interfax said the Ilyushin-18, designed in the mid-1950s and still seen as one of the most reliable planes, made regular flights between Moscow and Batumi twice a month. It said the plane prepared for landing around 1325 GMT near Batumi but radio contact with it was later lost. Officials said rescue efforts were complicated by heavy rain in the area. Interfax said a Defense Ministry commission had been set up to investigate the crash. Members of the commission will fly to the area Thursday morning. There has been no indication so far as to the cause of the crash. http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20001025_2542.html

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), October 25, 2000

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