MOSCOW: A Russian transport plane crashed on landing at Russia?s Hmeimim airbase in Syria, killing all 32 on board, the defence ministry said in a statement carried by RIA Novosti.
There were 26 passengers and 6 crew, the ministry said. ?The reason for the crash according to preliminary information could have been a technical fault,? the ministry added.
Meanwhile, in a new toll, more than two weeks of ferocious bombardment of Syria?s rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta have left 800 civilians dead.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 177 children were among the dead. Russian-backed regime forces launched their blistering assault on Eastern Ghouta, the last opposition bastion near Damascus, on February 18.