The National Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) confirmed that a cargo plane (Il-76) of Azerbaijan crashed at 10:50 am on Tuesday near the Urumqi International Airport of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The plane, with a crew of 7, was supposed to operate a mission from Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, to Baku of Azerbaijan via Urumqi. The cargo plane took off from the Taiyuan Airport at 5:50 am and landed at Urumqi Airport at 9:10a.m.

The plane crashed in forests 10 km away from the runway of the Urumqi Airport two minutes after it took off from the Urumqi airport.

Explosions were heard and dense smoke began to fill the sky after the plane hit the residential houses of a local farm, eyewitnesses said.

About 10 ambulances stood near by and rescue workers are trying to open the plane to rescue the crew.

Rescue operations are going on.

Cause of the crash is under investigation.

The scene was blocked by local police and the airport has launched emergency mechanism. Zhang Xiuming, deputy secretary of the Xinjiang Regional Party Committee, has rushed to the scene to guide the rescue work.

The chartered cargo plane, which took off from Taiyuan City of north China's Shanxi Province heading for Baku of Azerbaijan, stopped over at the Urumqi International Airport for refueling. The crash occurred at around 11:00 a.m on Tuesday shortly after it took off, eyewitnesses said.

Urumqi Airport Resumes Operation After 3-hour Closure

Urumqi International Airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has resumed operation after a closure for three hours.

The airport closed at 11 a.m. Tuesday when an Azerbaijani cargo plane (Il-76) with a seven-member crew crashed into a forested land 10 kilometers away from the airport in Urumqi at 10:50 a.m. local time.

Xinhua reporters say they witnessed the airport has resumed its normal operation at 2 p.m.. And related source noted that the airport authority has relocated manpower resources and resorted to emergency measures to make up the delay of the flights and cope with the needs of passengers.

The chartered cargo plane, the Russian made ILyushin 76 jet, which took off from Taiyuan city of north China's Shanxi province heading for Baku of Azerbaijan, had a stopover at the Urumqi International Airport for refueling.

The crash occurred two minutes after it took off Urumqi International Airport, eyewitnesses said.

The bodies of the seven crew members have been retrieved together with the black box of the cargo plane.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2004)