41 confirmed dead after Russian passenger plane crash lands on Moscow airport

Moscow, May 6, 2019:

In an extremely tragic development, at least 41 people were killed, including two children, after the aircraft crash-landed on a Moscow airport on Sunday and burst into flames upon landing.

Aeroflot flight SU 1492 skidded down the runway at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Initial reports said the Superjet 100 was flying from Moscow to Murmansk, a Russian city in the Arctic circle when an emergency on board forced it to turn back.

Russia's Interfax news agency reported that a "loss of communication" caused by a "lightning strike" had led to the decision to return to Sheremetyevo. No official cause has yet been provided for the disaster.

Video footage has surfaced on social media which shows the aircraft catching fire after a crash-landing.

It has been reported that thirty-seven passengers survived the crash.