A Russian passenger jet with 71 people aboard crashed several minutes after takeoff from Moscow`s Domodedovo Airport, Russia`s Air Transport Agency confirmed.
There were no immediate reports of survivors.
"Fragments of the An-148 and several bodies plane have been found near the village of Stepanovskoye," the agency said in a statement released by the state-run TASS news agency.
Saratov Airlines Flight 703, with 65 passengers and a crew of six, was bound for Orsk when it departed Moscow at 14:21 p. local time, the agency said. Radio contact was lost several minutes after takeoff, and the plane disappeared from air traffic control radars.
Pieces of the plane were found in the Ramenskoye region less than 25 miles west of the airport, the agency said. Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov flew to the site.
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Russia`s Emergencies Ministry said fire and rescue divisions, ambulance brigades and other emergency services were immediately dispatched to the scene. Photos from the scene showed emergency vehicles parked in deep snow.
Families of the passengers and crew were gathering at the airport in Orsk, about 1,100 miles east of Moscow. The passengers all were from the Orsk region, Interfax reported.
A criminal investigation has been launched, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered establishment of a special commission to investigate the crash.
"The president expresses deep condolences to all people who lost their relatives in the plane crash," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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