The plane was found on the frozen Omulyovka River near the town of Zyryanka in the Magadan region of the Russian Far East, a spokesman for the ministry said. In spite of sub-zero temperatures, the eight crew members and their one passenger were in good health. Food and supplies were being dropped to them, and a team was on its way to rescue them from the crash site.
The twin-engine turboprop An-26, normally not a long-range carrier, had made several stops on its way to Susuman from Voronezh, but ran out of fuel before reaching its destination, the spokesman said. The plane crash-landed on soft marshland without their landing gear, The Associated Press reported.
The plane carried two tons of food and other cargo.
The search for the plane took longer than usual because of the territory that had to be covered, the spokesman said.
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