BLAGOVESHCHENSK, November 7. /TASS/. Engine failure caused Antonov An-2 aircraft crash in the Amur region on Tuesday, assistant of the regional transport prosecutor Yulia Gorkina told TASS.

"Ten minutes after the take-off, a rumble was heard in the plane, the engine was unstable. 600 meters before the airport runway engine failed, the plane abruptly went down to a descent and landed hard," Gorkina said.

Regional Ministry of Emergency Situations told TASS earlier that Antonov An-2 passenger aircraft crashed at the airport in the Amur Region.

"The aircraft took a hard landing, caught fire. Fire crews went to the site, the operational group is working at the scene," Head of the Ministry’s press service Denis Dolinin said.

A source in the emergency services of the region added that, according to preliminary information, one of the pilots died. There were no passengers on board.

According to the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, the aircraft belongs to a private company. One of the pilots of Antonov An-2 aircraft, which crashed on Tuesday in in the Amur Region, died, Chief doctor of the central district hospital Svetlana Shulga told TASS.

"A man born in 1953 has died. Another man, born in 1960, faced stress, cut wounds," Shulga said. According to her, he refused hospitalization.