Russia: Firefighting plane with 10 people onboard goes 'missing'

A Russian Ilyushin plane, one of the world's biggest firefighting plane, with 10 people on board has been reported missing in the Irkutsk region, in south-east Siberia. The plane was on a mission to put out a forest fire in the region.

According to an international news agency, the aircraft was earlier reported to have 11 people on board, but the number was later revised to 10 people.

The agency reported that the aircraft was circling territories stricken by forest fires in Russia's Irkutsk region, but failed to report back to rescuers at the scheduled time.

"The aircraft with rescuers on board should have made contact at 6:30 Moscow time [3:30 a.m. GMT] but failed to do so," a source was quoted by the agency.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has also confirmed the incident, mentioning that a rescue helicopter had been sent on a search mission. The ministry has also dispatched an additional rescue mission from near Moscow, equipped to conduct search operations in difficult terrain.