Russian plane makes emergency landing in Novosibirsk due to engine fire

VLADIVOSTOK -- A Russian passenger plane with 176 people on board made a safe emergency landing at Novosibirsk airport on Friday morning after its engines caught fire shortly after takeoff, local media reported.

The incident occurred around 07:00 local time (0000 GMT), according to preliminary data, when the Boeing 737 plane, operated by S7 Airline, was flying from Novosibirsk to Moscow as it experienced a technical malfunction.

"No one was injured," an official of the West Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office said, adding that "the passengers were accommodated in the airport building and a reserve aircraft was being prepared for the flight."

The transport prosecutor's office is checking the circumstances of the aviation incident, and the plane is suspended from operation pending investigation.