KUZHENKINO: Residents of a village near the site of the plane crash which is believed to have killed Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said they had heard a bang, then saw the jet plummet to the ground.

A reporter at the crash site early on Thursday saw men taking away black body bags on stretchers. Part of the plane’s blue-and-white liveried tail and other fragments lay on the ground near a wooded area.

Forensic investigators had erected a tent and lighting gear. Parts of the wreckage lay near what appeared to be a half-built abandoned structure.

Kuzhenkino resident Vitaly Stepenok, 72, said: “I heard an explosion or a bang. Usually, if an explosion happens on the ground then you get an echo, but it was just a bang and I looked up and saw white smoke.

“One wing flew off in one direction and the fuselage went like that,” he said, gesturing with his arms to show how the plane headed down towards the ground.

“And then it glided down on one wing. It didn’t nose-dive, it was gliding.”

Standing in a village street, Stepenok said he was afraid the plane would fall onto houses there.

“I was over there. I jumped on my bike and was there (at the site) in about 20 minutes. Everything was on fire. People were walking around. They dragged someone out, their remains… I couldn’t make it out.

“I just saw the number on the plane, which I told them, and that was it.”

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023