At least 25 dead from the crash of a Ukranian military transport aircraft Antonov AN-26, last night in the Kharkiv region, in the eastern part of Ukraine, according to a new report by the authorities.

The Office of the Attorney General said in a statement that “at present, according to preliminary information, 25 people have been killed, there are two injured who are being treated in critical condition. Investigations into other passengers are ongoing,” said a statement issued late Friday. Rescue crews have rushed to the area.

According to Kharkiv Governor Alexei Kutcher, four people are missing. An earlier report had put the death toll at 22, two seriously injured and two missing.

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The AN-26 crashed during landing at around 20:50 local time, two kilometers from Chugoin military airport, according to the state emergency service. The plane caught fire after its crash which was extinguished an hour later.

In a press conference given by Governor Kutcher, he stated that based on the initial data, the left engine of the plane was damaged before the crash. “There was a warning from the pilot that the left engine was damaged, as I understand it,” he said. He noted that this should not be a critical situation for an experienced pilot. “What happened next is unclear, it will be determined by the investigation,” the governor added.

In addition to the crew, the plane was carrying 28 pilots of the Air Force and students of the Institute of the Ukrainian Air Force, according to the Interior Ministry. Authorities later said there were 27 people on board, as one student was not allowed to board.

Pictures posted by authorities on social media showed the partially damaged and burned aircraft near a road.

“Terrible tragedy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a Facebook post, announcing that he would go to the scene of the accident today, Saturday.

He also ordered an “urgent government committee to be set up to clarify the circumstances and causes” of the disaster.

German Defence Minister Annegret Krab-Karenbauer expressed her country’s condolences for the deadly crash of the military plane.

The small town of Chugoi is located about 30 km southeast of Kharkov and about 100 km west of the first line separating the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government from those held by pro-Russian separatists.

Several military aircraft have crashed in Ukraine during training flights in recent years. 

The Antonov AN-26 is a twin-engined turboprop light transport aircraft built near Kiev between 1969 and 1986, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. It has a length of 23.8 m, a height of 8.58 m and a cruising speed of 440 Km / h. The AN-26 has joined the air fleets of Hungary, Romania, (former) Czechoslovakia, Angola, Cuba, Bulgaria and (former) East Germany (GDR).

With information from: CNA, Antonov.com

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