Moscow - (AFP) - At least 13 people, including three children, were killed when a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet crashed into a residential building in southern Russia near the border with Ukraine , the Russian authorities said Tuesday, indicating that search operations under the rubble had ended. .

Russian news agencies quoted the Ministry of Emergency Situations as saying, "Rescue teams finished searching under the rubble (...) In all, 13 people died, including three children, and 19 others were injured."

The ministry stated that searches under the rubble led to the recovery of "ten additional bodies", after the initial toll reported that three people were killed in the accident.

The fall of the fighter led to the outbreak of fire in the nine-storey residential building, which houses about 600 people.
The disaster occurred in the city of Yeisk, which lies on the Sea of Azov in the Krasnodar region, near the border with Ukraine.

For its part, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had notified the accident and ordered Ministers of Health Mikhail Murashko and Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Korenkov to go to Yeisk.

The fighter fuel caused a huge fire in the building, destroying five of its nine floors.

The fighter was on a training flight when it was involved in the accident, and its two pilots managed to escape after ejecting from it, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The ministry attributed the cause of the accident to a technical defect resulting from "one of the two engines catching fire at take-off."

Regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev told reporters that his administration was "providing as much assistance as possible" to residents, vowing to "examine whether the building will be restored or we will build new apartments."

He indicated that the fire was brought under control by 17:30 GMT Monday.

Kondratiev had announced earlier on Telegram that the fire had spread to other floors and that 17 apartments had been damaged.

For its part, the Russian Investigative Committee, which looks into serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Since the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine, the airspace around southern Russia has been closed.
Accidents involving Russian civil and military aircraft are common, and are usually the result of technical malfunction or human error.
In June, a military plane crashed in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, killing four people and injuring five.