IRKUTSK. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The four pilots of the Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber that crashed in the Irkutsk region on Thursday ejected and have now been found, the region's Governor Igor Kobzev said on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
"Indeed, such information was received by the on-duty official of the regional department of the Center for Catastrophe Medicine at 10:18 p.m. (local time). The Defense Ministry said the plane was a military one, a Tu-22M3. It was performing a routine flight. Four pilots ejected. All of them have already been found," Kobzev said.
Relevant services are on their way to the site, he said.
"I am asking not to panic. The plane crashed in an unpopulated area, there is no destruction on the ground. According to tentative information, the cause was a technical failure," Kobzev said.
The plane crashed behind the viaduct, not far from Mikhailovka, Cheremkhovsky district, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier on Thursday a Tu-22M3 bomber had crashed during a routine flight in the Irkutsk region. The crew ejected, the ministry said.
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