Rescue workers at the plane crash site. AFP

Gulf Today Report

A Russian freight plane with seven people aboard crash landed in Eastern Siberia and caught fire, rescue officials announced on Wednesday.

The Antonov An 12 plane "disappeared from radar" on its final approach out of the city of Irkutsk, the emergency ministry said.

According to preliminary information, the plane was carrying seven people and came from the city of Yakutsk.

A rescue team said when they arrived at the scene the plane was on fire.

Antonov planes were produced in Soviet times and are still in use throughout the former Soviet Union for civil and military transport.

They have been involved in numerous accidents in recent years.

Major Russian airlines have switched from old Soviet planes to more modern ones.

But poor aircraft maintenance and lax safety standards persist, and the country has recently witnessed several fatal air disasters.

In September, six people died when an An-26 transport plane crashed outside the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.

In July, an An-26 flying over the Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula crashed, killing all 28 people on board.