IRKUTSK, November 3. /TASS/. All the crewmembers of an Antonov An-12 turboprop cargo plane that crashed near Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia died in the accident, Irkutsk Region Governor Igor Kobzev told reporters on Wednesday.

"All of them have died. Fragments of their bodies have been found. According to some data, from five to seven people [have lost their lives]," the governor said.

There were Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian nationals aboard the plane, he specified. 

About 40 police officers are sealing off the crash site to provide for the work of emergencies services and investigators. Accommodation for the emergencies staff will be set up at the crash site, he added.

The An-12 plane belonged to the Belarus-based Grodno airline that repeatedly carried out flights in the Irkutsk Region. The circumstances of the accident will be discussed at a meeting of the emergencies commission and there are plans to get in touch with Russia’s Foreign Ministry, considering that foreigners were aboard the plane, the governor said.

Local residents found the crash site and summoned rescue services, he added.

As Russia’s Emergencies Ministry reported earlier on Wednesday, at 14:45 Moscow time, an An-12 cargo plane disappeared from radars while making an approach for landing 7 km from Irkutsk in the area of the settlement of Pivovarikha. The plane went ablaze when hitting the ground. Firefighters put out the fire at 15:51 Moscow time. A TASS source reported earlier on Wednesday that five people died in the plane’s crash.