Russian cargo plane carrying 8 missing: ministry

MOSCOW: A Russian cargo plane carrying eight people went missing Tuesday after requesting emergency landing authorization in far-northern Magadan region, the emergencies ministry said.

"An An-12 plane disappeared from the radars at 0734 Moscow time (0334 GMT) 310 kilometers (192 miles) northeast of Magadan" after requesting emergency landing at the Magadan airport, RIA Novosti news agency quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

The An-12 is used by both military and civilian organisations. In 2008, nine people died when a similar plane crashed near the city of Chelyabinsk after colliding with power lines. (AFP)