An airliner flying from Dubai with at least 61 people on board crashed early Saturday in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, according to the Russian Emergency Ministry.

The Boeing 737-800 crashed on a repeated landing attempt at the city’s airport, according to the ministry, which said there were 55 passengers and seven crew members aboard. 

Russian official sources confirmed that all persons aboard the plane were killed.

The UAE-based carrier, FlyDubai, confirmed on Saturday that it had lost one of its aircraft on a flight from Dubai to southern Russian city Rostov-on-Don.

"FlyDubai regrets to confirm that flight FZ981 crashed on landing and that fatalities have been confirmed as a result of this tragic accident. The aircraft departed from Dubai International (DXB) at 18:20 GMT bound for Rostov on Don (ROV). The accident occurred in Rostov on Don at approximately 00:50 GMT," the company said in a statement posted on its website.

"We are doing all we can to gather information as quickly as possible. At this moment our thoughts and prayers are with our passengers and our crew who were on board the aircraft. We will do everything we can to help those who have been affected by this accident," the company added.

"We are putting our emergency response in place and we will be working closely with all the authorities involved. We will share as much information as possible just as soon as we can and we will provide updated information on a regular basis," the statement also said.

There were 44 Russian and 8 Ukrainian passengers on board the flydubai flight that crashed and exploded in Russia on Saturday, the airline has said in a Facebook post.

There were also 2 Indian passengers and 1 Uzbekistani passenger, according to the post.
Source: BNA