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About 20 flights delayed in Russia’s Sochi as plane skids off runway

A Boeing 737-800 plane of Russia’s UTair airline en route from Moscow to Sochi skidded off the runway and broke through a fence, ending up on a bank of a river

SOCHI, September 1. /TASS/. Departure and arrival of about 20 flights have been delayed after a plane skidded of the runway and caught fire in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi, a spokesperson for the Sochi airport informed TASS on Saturday.

"At the moment, 10 departures have been delayed and about the same number of arrivals," she said.

At 02:59 Moscow time, a Boeing 737-800 plane of Russia’s UTair airline en route from Moscow to Sochi with 164 passengers and six crew members on board skidded off the runway and broke through a fence, ending up on a bank of a river. As a result, the plane’s landing gear and one of its wings were destroyed, and the left engine caught fire.

All passengers were promptly evacuated. The fire was contained some 25 minutes after the incident, and fully extinguished at 04:30. Earlier reports said 18 people had been injured. An emergencies source told TASS that an airport worker had died of heart attack.

Russia’s aviation authorities and UTair are investigating the incident.