MOSCOW: A Russian transport plane crashed on landing at an airbase in Syria on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, killing all 39 people on board in one of the deadliest incidents since Moscow’s intervention in the country’s war.

The ministry said the 33 passengers and six crew members were all military personnel, in a statement carried by news agencies, revising up an earlier toll of 32.

“The reason for the crash according to preliminary information could have been a technical fault,” the ministry said, adding that the plane had not come under fire according to a report from the ground.

The transporter was around 500 metres from the runway at the Hmeimim airbase in western Syria, according to the defence ministry.

President Vladimir Putin expressed “deep condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the crash and also to all of the military over the loss of their comrades”.

Putin, who is on a trip in the Urals region, spoke to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on the phone about the accident, according to the Kremlin.

A commission will investigate the causes of the crash, the defence ministry said.

The Investigative Committee, which covers major incidents, also announced a probe into possible safety breaches, saying the plane was carrying out a planned flight.

Red Army Choir

The accident is the second greatest loss of life for Russia since Moscow’s intervention in the war.

In December 2016, a military plane carrying the famed Red Army Choir to Syria crashed after taking off from Sochi, killing all 92 people on board.

Moscow began conducting air strikes in Syria in September 2015, and its intervention has swung the nearly seven-year conflict firmly in favour of the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Putin made a surprise visit to Hmeimim in December where he ordered the start of a pullout of Russian troops, saying their task in the war-torn country had been largely completed.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2018