Forty-eight people have died in a plane crash in Russia's Far East, the head of the country's Amur region said in a statement Thursday.

An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia's far east as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft.

A plane carrying 49 people crashed in Russia's far eastern region of Amur and its fuselage was found ablaze with no evidence of any survivors, authorities said.