Tatarstan region in Russia on Sunday witnessed an L-410 plane crash that killed 16 people and left seven others wounded.

The plane had been carrying a group of parachute jumpers on board, the Emergencies Ministry said.

According to the TASS news agency, seven people were pulled alive from the wreckage but the remaining 15 are “without signs of life”, a representative of the emergency services said.

The plane was a Let L-410 Turbolet, which is a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft. The local health ministry said that the seven survivors are in hospital, one is in “very serious condition”, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.

Images published by the ministry showed the aircraft broken in half with a severely dented nose.

Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.

Last month, an ageing Antonov An-26 transport plane crashed in the Russian far east, killing six people. All 28 people on board an Antonov An-26 twin-engine turboprop died in a crash in Kamchatka in July.

The country also frequently experiences non-fatal air incidents that result in rerouted flights and emergency landings, usually stemming from technical issues.

Flying in Russia can be particularly dangerous in the vast country’s isolated regions, such as the Arctic and the Far East, where weather conditions are frequently extreme.