25 August 2004 -- Investigators are trying to determine why two Tupolev passenger jets crashed in southern Russia late yesterday, killing 89 people, after taking off from the same airport in Moscow.
The first jet went down in the Rostov region south of Moscow. Minutes later, a second jet crashed in the southern Tula region.
Aviation authorities say all flight recorders have been recovered from the crash sites and will be reviewed in Moscow.
Authorities have yet to provide causes for the near simultaneous crashes.
"We are considering a number of possible causes, including a terrorist act, a technical problem and the human factor," Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov said. "I will not go through all of them now, but we do not rule out any possibility today."
President Vladimir Putin cut short a vacation in Sochi and returned to the capital after hearing about the two crashes. He has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
(AP/ITAR-TASS/AFP/Reuters)
Aviation authorities say all flight recorders have been recovered from the crash sites and will be reviewed in Moscow.
Authorities have yet to provide causes for the near simultaneous crashes.
"We are considering a number of possible causes, including a terrorist act, a technical problem and the human factor," Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov said. "I will not go through all of them now, but we do not rule out any possibility today."
President Vladimir Putin cut short a vacation in Sochi and returned to the capital after hearing about the two crashes. He has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
(AP/ITAR-TASS/AFP/Reuters)