Russian military plane crash at base in Syria kills 39

A Russian transport plane crashed on landing at Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria, killing all 39 on board, the defence ministry said in a statement carried by RIA Novosti.

There were 33 passengers and 6 crew, the ministry said.

“The reason for the crash according to preliminary information could have been a technical fault,” the ministry said, adding that the plane had not come under fire according to a report from the ground.

The transporter was around 500m from the runway, the statement said.

A commission will investigate the causes of the crash.

The latest accident comes after a Sukhoi military jet crashed while trying to take off from Hmeimim in October last year, killing two crew.

Russia’s most recent military loss in battle in Syria was last month when a pilot was killed after his plane was downed over Idlib province.

Russia’s official military losses in the war before the crash were 45.

Moscow last month also said that five citizens, not officially affiliated with the Russian military, were probably killed in the strikes in eastern Syria – the first admission of non-military combat casualties.