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Passenger plane bound for Prague returns to Moscow due to fire in baggage hold - source

There were 187 people aboard the plane

MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. A passenger plane bound from Moscow for Prague returned to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport because of a fire in the baggage hold, a source in emergencies services told TASS on Sunday.

"A Boeing-737 of Rossiya Airlines en route from Moscow to Prague returned to the departure airport due to a fire in the baggage hold. The plane landed safely, no one was hurt," the source said.

There were 187 people aboard the plane. The passenger will fly to Prague by another plane.

A source at the Vnukovo airport told TASS that the plane’s pilots decide to return to the airport after a fire sensor had activated when the plane was in midair.

Meanwhile, the plane’s crew said there had been no smoke onboard. "A fire alarm went off in the baggage hold when the plane (flight 5739) had taken off. The pilot took a decision to return to the departure airport for safety considerations. The flight attendants found no signs of smoke or fire while landing," a spokesman for Rossiya Airlines told TASS.

An probe is underway.

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