The Pulkovo Airlines jetliner crashed midafternoon during a heavy thunderstorm, apparently while trying to make an emergency landing. The crew had broadcast a distress signal at more than 30,000 feet and another after dropping to 10,000 feet, authorities said.

The death toll included 45 children and teenagers, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing a spokesman at Anapa airport, where the flight began. Some reports put the number on board the Tupolev 154 aircraft at 171.

Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova stressed that authorities did not believe the crash was an incident of terrorism.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 26, 2006
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