Two pilots killed as Russian fighter jet crashes into Siberian home

A Russian military jet crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday and the two pilots were killed, officials said, the second such fatal incident in six days involving a Sukhoi fighter plane.

In a post on Telegram, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said the plane crashed into a two-storey house in the city. He published a video showing firefighters clambering over the wreckage and directing jets of water at the still smouldering rubble.

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No one on the ground was hurt, the governor said.

Officials said the plane was a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter on a test flight. Last Monday, a Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, and at least 15 people were killed.

Authorities said an initial investigation of that disaster - in which the pilots ejected - pointed to a technical malfunction of the aircraft.

Videos of Sunday's incident, shared on social media, showed the plane dived almost vertically before crashing in a fireball, sending dense black smoke into the sky. Kobzev said 150 nearby homes were without electricity and work was underway to restore power.