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Passengers of London-Beijing flight that landed in Russia remain on board

A backup aircraft will soon be dispatched to evacuate the passengers, Dmitry Koshchenko, head of Nizhnevartovsk, said

KHANTY-MANSIYSK, August 26. /TASS/. The crew and passengers of an Air China flight traveling from London to Beijing remain onboard after making an unscheduled landing at Nizhnevartovsk Airport in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District - Yugra. A decision is currently underway regarding their temporary accommodation at the airport, according to Dmitry Koshchenko, head of Nizhnevartovsk.

"The crew and passengers are still on board as we work to determine how they can cross the border. We are in the process of arranging their temporary stay at the international terminal of our airport. A backup aircraft will soon be dispatched to evacuate the passengers. Rest assured, we are fully managing the situation," Koshchenko stated.

Earlier, Air China announced it would send a standby aircraft to Nizhnevartovsk following the unscheduled landing. The Russian federal air transport agency indicated the aircraft is expected to arrive at 4:00 p.m. Moscow time (GMT+3). The preliminary cause of the landing was a malfunction of one of the plane’s engines. The crew issued a PAN signal indicating there was an urgency situation on board and requested permission to land. There were 265 people on board - 250 passengers and 15 crew members.

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