An overloaded cargo plane carrying 19 people and tons of vegetables crashed Friday while trying to take off from an airport in Russia's Far East, authorities said. Seven people were killed.


The twin-engine turboprop Antonov-8 went down at the Chaibukha airport in the Khabarovsk region, said Anatoly Streltsov, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry. Khabarovsk is more than 6,000 kilometers east of Moscow.


Streltsov said the plane was unable to get off the ground, sped off the runway and plunged into a pit.


Among the 19 people aboard were 12 passengers, including four children, and seven crew members. The plane also carried 5.5 metric tons of vegetables, Interfax said.


All of the survivors were taken by helicopter to a hospital in the nearby town of Avensk, Streltsov said. Six people were killed immediately, and a seventh later died in the hospital.


Aviation experts said the plane's maximum carrying capacity was six metric tons. Russian flight crews often take on extra passengers and cargo to boost their meager salaries.


It was the second fatal airplane crash in Russia this week. Twenty-eight people were killed when a passenger jet smashed into a remote Siberian forest Monday.