The RusAir Tu-134 plane that crashed on Monday due to heavy fog burst into flames on a highway near Moscow in northwestern Russia leaving at least 44 people dead, according to officials.

Eight people, including a child survived as they were dragged from the burning wreckage by locals.

The plane had taken off from Moscow and was moments away from landing at the Petrozavodsk airport when it slammed into a nearby highway. The incident took place just before midnight, Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Oksana Semyonova told AP.

Russian Investigations Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters that a criminal case into the crash has been launched and various versions, including human error are being examined by the investigators, an IBN report stated.

The plane broke up into pieces and erupted into flames as it hit the ground, witnesses said.

The Tuploev-134 was a Soviet aircraft which took to the skies for the first time in 1967. However, it was unknown when the plane was manufactured.

The aircraft's black boxes have been recovered.

Russia plane crash
A view shows the site of a plane crash near the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed and eight injured when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday. REUTERS/Russian Emergencies Mi
Russia plane crash
A traffic police car (front) escort ambulances carrying survivors of a plane crash as they drive to the airport for the further transportation of injured passengers to the capital Moscow, with a local hospital seen in the background, in the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. A passenger jet slammed into the ground and caught fire while trying to land on a foggy night in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people and leaving eight survivors badly hurt, officials said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Vladimir Larionov
Russia plane crash
A view shows the site of a plane crash near the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed and eight injured when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday. REUTERS/Russian Emergencies Mi
Russia plane crash
A policeman (C) stands at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Vladimir Larionov
Russia plane crash
ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY AND DEATH Personnel from the Russian emergency services work at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Vladimir Larionov
Russia plane crash
Personnel from the Russian emergency services work at the site of a plane crash about 1 km (0.6 miles) from the runway at the airport outside the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk June 21, 2011. At least 44 people were killed when the passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an Emergency Ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Vladimir Larionov
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