This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Russian authorities say the death toll in the crash of a Russian military jet during a training flight near a residential building has risen to at least 15 people as first responders ended their search operations.
Local officials in Russia’s southwestern Krasnodar region said on October 18 that two people injured in the crash the day before had died, making the death toll 15.
The crash engulfed in flames a nine-story apartment building in Yeisk in the region bordering Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said the pilots ejected and reported that the cause of the crash was a fire in one of the jet’s engines during takeoff.
Videos distributed on social media suggested an explosion followed the crash, and a large section of the residential building caught fire. The authenticity of the videos could not be verified.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed officials to provide all necessary assistance to the victims and ordered the governor of the Krasnodar Krai, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the minister of health to go to the crash site.
Russia’s state Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case and sent investigators to the scene.
