The Defense Ministry confirmed that two airmen died when their Su-24 fighter jet crashed on a training mission in Russia's southern Volgograd region Wednesday, state news agency TASS reported Thursday.
"Body parts of the dead crew members were found at the crash site" about seven kilometers from the airbase in the Kalachyovsky district, the ministry was cited as saying.
Both airmen had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience. The ministry has grounded all Su-24s amid an investigation of the incident.
It was initially hoped that the pilots had ejected from the plane and survived, as happened in the four previous instances of Su-24 crashes, the Interfax news agency reported.
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