MOSCOW, July 1: Russia's Emergencies Ministry says one of its firefighting planes with a crew of 10 is missing in Siberia.
The ministry said the Il-76 plane disappeared Friday while on a mission to fight forest fires in the Irkutsk region. It said that seven aircraft have been searching for the plane, which went missing in the Bayandayevsky district near Lake Baikal.
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Officials said the crew hadn't reported any problems before disappearing.
Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov said the search was complicated by heavy smoke from forest fires.
The plane that disappeared is a firefighting version of the Il-76 four-engined heavy transport plane, capable of carrying 42,000 liters (11,000 gallons) of water.
