MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Russia’s emergencies ministry has confirmed the crash of an An-148 passenger plane in Moscow region on Sunday.

"Fragments of the An-148 plane and several bodies have been found near the village of Stepanovskoye," a ministry spokesman told TASS.

Radio contact with an An-148 passenger plane of the Saratov Airlines was lost several minutes after the takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, Russia’s Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) confirmed. 

"The An-148 passenger plane of the Saratov Airlines [flight 730 from Moscow to Orsk] took off from the Domodedovo airport at 14:21 Moscow time. According to preliminary data, there were 65 passengers and six crew members aboard the plane. Radio contact with the plane was lost several minutes after the takeoff and the plane went out of the radars. In happened in Moscow region’s Ramensky district," the agency said.

Among possible causes of the An-148 plane crash may be weather conditions, pilot's error of a technical malfunction. 

"A team of rescuers has been sent to the crash site in Moscow region’s Ramensky district," the source said.