DEVELOPING STORYTerror fears as two planes crash
August 25, 2004
A TERRORIST attack is feared behind the simultaneous disappearance of two passenger jets in Russia overnight.
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They disappeared from radar coverage within minutes of each other shortly before 11pm Moscow time (5am AEST).
It is understood a total of 86 people were on board the two planes. Earlier reports suggested more than 100 people were aboard.
Investigators say they have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack.
A Tu-134 aircraft with 34 passengers and eight crew on board was en route to Russia's southern city of Volgograd when it disappeared off radar screens late Tuesday, the ministry's spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said.
Its tail was later found near the village of Buchalki in the Tula region some 180km south of Moscow, Ms Ryklina said. The fate of passengers and crew was unclear.
Local emergency ministry officials cited witness reports of an explosion aboard before the airplane went down, Interfax news agency reported.
In a separate case, a Tu-154 airplane with 44 people on board went missing near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don while on the way to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, officials said.
There has been no word on survivors although there were conflicting reports on the numbers of passengers and crew aboard each aircraft.
Both planes departed from the same airport. Some reports say there were just three minutes between the disappearance of both planes.
In Washington, a senior US State Department official said: "We are obviously concerned by the news. We're following developments closely and trying to determine the facts."
AP, AFP
Herald Sun