Moscow, Mar 6: A Russian transport plane carrying 26 passengers and 6 crew members crashed near the Hmeimim base in Syria, with all 32 on board being killed.

The transport plane of An-26 fleet crashed while landing due to a technical malfunction, confirmed the Russian Ministry of Defence while clarifying that the aircraft did not come under any sort of external or internal attack.

A probe, however, would be conducted to ascertain the exact cause of the crash, authorities said.

The An-26 flight of Russia has crashed earlier as well. In January 2015, the plane, commissioned to the Syrian Air Force, crashed killing all 35 people on board. The deceased included 30 pro-regime soldiers and 5 Iranian military experts. Although Russia had confirmed the cause of crash to be "dense fog", the rival militant group al-Nusra Front said its cadres shot down the plane.

The An-26, despite its shortcomings, is considered among the premiere transportation flights used by the Russian Defence. The aircrafts have a capacity of carrying upto 38 people, with a load of 5,500-kg in cargo.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 07:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).