Wednesday, August 23 2006 11:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: A Russian plane carrying 171 people on board including 45 children crashed in Ukraine while on a flight to St Petersburg from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa, minutes after hitting turbulent weather and sending a distress signal.

"Everyone is dead," Russian emergency situations ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova as saying.

The Tupolev-154 belonging to Pulkovo Airlines, one of Russia's largest carriers, disappeared from radar screens and crashed near Novgorodskoye village, some 45km north of the city of Donetsk, after sending a distress signal at 1707 IST.

Officials said 30 bodies were recovered from the burning wreckage of the flight and firefighters were trying to put down the blaze.

"The crew sent a distress signal at 1707 IST, and the plane disappeared from radar screens two minutes later," Russian officials said.

The plane was carrying 160 passengers and 10 crew.

An airline source told Itar-Tass news agency that there were 45 children aged less than 12, including six babies younger than 24 months. The agency had reported earlier that there were six children on board.

There were different reports on the cause of the crash. Ukraine's emergencies ministry said a fire had broken out on board, while Russian news agencies quoting officials said the accident probably occured when the plane hit an area of severe air turbulence.

Thunderstorms had been reported from the area of the crash, reports said.