Fate Of 14 Persons Got In Air Crash Near Zurich Still Unknown

Despite an intensive search, now on for over 13 hours, rescuers and the police have not established the fate of 14 out of the 33 persons aboard the plane of the Crossair airlines. The passenger plane crashed on Sunday night on its approach to the Kloten international airport, Zurich. According to preliminary information, ten persons died and nine were hospitalised, three of them with severe burns. The list of passengers is being ascertained. The Swiss television reports that one of them was well-known American singer Melanie Thornton. The plane, making a regular flight from Berlin to Zurich, fell near Birchwill two kilometres off the Kloten airport at 00:08 on Sunday. The airliner broke into three. Rescuers and the police arrived on the site amidst the woods several minutes after the crash and quickly put out the fire. Both black boxes were found at night. In the preliminary estimate of experts, a probable reason for the crash is that the plane was landing at a low altitude in adverse weather conditions /rain and snow/. According to the Crossair airlines, all the five members of the crew were Swiss. Specialists say that the crashed RJ-100 Avro Jumbolino air jet was a very dependable machine.