Death toll hits 16 in Russia plane crash

A twin-engine, turbo-prop plane crashed on takeoff in western Russia Monday, killing at least 16 people, a government spokesman said. The ATR-72 was en route from Tyumen to Surgut with 39 passengers and four crew members when it went down at 5:50 a.m. Moscow time near Tyumen, located in the Ural Mountains, RIA Novosti reported. "Sixteen bodies have been found on the crash site," an Emergencies Ministry spokesman told the Russian news agency. "Twelve people were injured." Doctors at a hospital in the city said at least five of the injured were in critical condition. A rescue operation headquarters spokesman said the French-Italian manufactured aircraft hit the ground about 1.2 miles from Gorkovka, a village more than a mile from Roshchnino Airport, RIA Novosti said. The cause of the crash had not been determined, but Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said a criminal investigation had begun.