A Russian Tu-134 passenger jet that made an emergency landing in the city of Surgut due to an engine flaming out on takeoff, exploded after landing, a police source said on Saturday.
None of the 130 people, including the flight crew, on board the aircraft were injured and were able to evacuate the plane before it exploded.
A popular Russian pop music group, Na-Na, was among the passengers on the ill-fated airliner.
"The fuel tanks of the aircraft exploded after landing, there are no injuries; the passengers were able to evacuate the plane before the explosion," the police source said.
The police source said that there were another four passenger airplanes, including a Boeing, next to the Tu-134 after it landed, however, they were towed away to a safe distance before the explosion occurred. The plane has been completely extinguished, he added.
"After the plane's engines [were shut down], something happened and the plane's fuselage caught fire. [We] couldn't open the emergency exits for a long time and people began to really panic, some of them ran right through the flames," Vladimir Politov, one Na-Na's members told RIA Novosti by phone.
"We left through the exit over the plane's wing. None of us was injured, but all of our documents and personal items [and baggage] burned," he continued, adding that all the passengers are now located inside the airport in Surgut waiting for representatives from Kolavia Airlines to arrive.
The plane was taking off from Surgut in Siberia to Moscow at 1:25 p.m. Moscow time [10:25 GMT] when its turbine caught fire, the police source said.
MOSCOW, January 1 (RIA Novosti)
