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Two Pilots Dead After Russian Jet Crashes into Building in Siberia

Military plane crashes into residential building in Irkutsk, Russia TASS

Two pilots were killed after a Russian jet conducting a test flight crashed Sunday into a two-storey building in the city of Irkutsk in southern Siberia, the regional governor said.

The incident comes days after a military jet crashed into a block of flats in the Russian town of Yeysk, killing more than a dozen people, including children.

"A Su category plane hit a two-storey building in Irkutsk on Przhevalskogo street," governor Igor Kobzev said on social media, with the local department of the emergencies ministry clarifying that a "Su-30 aircraft crashed during a test flight". 

Kobzev later said that two pilots were killed in the crash but local residents were unharmed. 

He posted a video of the building, which he described as a "private home for two families of 100 metres squared", with smoke billowing against a dark sky. 

Firefighters were seen at the scene, working to extinguish the fire that broke out after the crash. 

Russia's investigative committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement that it had launched a criminal case over the incident.

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