"A total of 23 people have been injured, including nine children aged between two and nine," the source said.

The plane was significantly damaged and won’t perform flights in the near future, the airline said in a statement.

A probe has been launched into the accident, Spokesperson for the Moscow Inter-Regional Transport Prosecutor’s Office Yekaterina Korotkova told TASS.

An Airbus A321 made a crash landing near Zhukovsky International Airport in the Moscow region earlier on Thursday. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the plane struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff. There were 226 passengers and seven crew members aboard the aircraft.

***

A Simferopol-bound Airbus A320 passenger jet with over 230 people on board made an emergency landing at Russia's Zhukovsky International Airport, a spokesperson from Russia's emergency services ministry said. 

"An engine caught fire during the take-off. After an emergency landing, A321 went off the runway," the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

According to the air carrier Ural Airlines, the engine fire which prompted the 15 May emergency landing was caused when a bird flew into one of the plane's jet engines.

"According to preliminary data, all passengers of the A320 plane survived the hard landing in Zhukovsky," the spokesperson said.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry stated that the plane carried 234 people, including seven crew members.

According to the preliminary data, 10 people, including 3 children, were injured in the incident and were later taken to hospital.

The press service noted that all the passengers had been evacuated from the aircraft, adding that the airport’s emergency units were used to extinguish the fire.

The circumstances of the landing are being investigated.

More about: #Moscow