Forty-one people have died in a plane fire in Moscow, Russian investigators have said.

The Russian Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet plane made an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday due to fire on board, Russian news agencies said.

The plane was headed from Moscow to the northern Russian city of Murmansk.

“There were 78 people on board, including crew members,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website.

“According to updated information, 37 out of them survived.”

Interfax news agency reported that the tail was completely burned and said a rescue team was trying to find survivors in that part of the plane.

The plane, a one-year-old Sukhoi Superjet, departed from Sheremetyevo for Murmansk but shortly after taking off requested an emergency landing due to fire, according to Russian state media.

The plane had registration number RA-89098. Flightradar24 tracking service showed that it made two circles around Moscow and landed after about 45 minutes.

TV footage showed a plane landing with its tail ablaze. On the ground, black smoke billowed from the plane.

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