Flydubai Flight FZ981 Crash: Plane Carrying 55 Passengers Crashes While Landing In Southern Russia

UPDATE: 11:37 p.m. EDT – A Boeing spokesman told Sputnik News that the company is still gathering information on the plane crash at the airport of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don that is believed to have killed 55 passengers and seven crew members. The report by Sputnik News added that four passengers were children.

UPDATE: 11:15 p.m. EDT -- Weather may have been a factor in the crash of a FlyDubai passenger jet in southern Russia early Saturday, the Associated Press reported. At the airport site in Rostov-on-Don there was rain and winds of about 25 mph, reports said.

UPDATE: 10:53 p.m. EDT -- FlyDubai Airlines responded to news that one of its Boeing 738 passenger jets crashed while landing in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, near the border with eastern Ukraine, killing 55 passengers and seven crew members on board.

"We are aware of an incident involving our flight FZ981 from Dubai to Rostov On Don," FlyDubai said in a statement. "We are investigating further details and will publish an update once more information is available"

The crash killed all of the 55 passengers and seven crew members on board, Russia's Sputnik News reported. Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Marina Kostioukova could not provide further information about the victims.

"At this this time we do not have any information," she told ABC News Australia.

Original story:

A FlyDubai Airlines plane crashed as it descended Saturday local time at an airport in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. The Boeing 738 passenger jet, en route from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was carrying 55 passengers, all of whom were killed, RT News reported.

The news was confirmed by the country's Southern Regional Emergency Center to CNN.

“According to preliminary data, the Boeing 737 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50 to 100 meters left of the runway," a source told RT News.

Emergency crews have already responded to the scene. The airport will be closed until at least 6 a.m. local time, RT News reported.

This story is developing and will be updated as information becomes available.