As many as eight bodies have been found at the site where a Russian private jet, on which chief of Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger, crashed, according to Russian news agency RIA. A view shows smoke rising above a plane on fire following an alleged air accident at a location given as Tver region, Russia, in this still image from video published August 23, 2023.(via REUTERS)

The security services are carrying out the search and rescue operations. There is no confirmation whether Prigozhin was on-board the flight which crashed north of Moscow. However, the Russian aviation agency said he was listed as one of the passengers.

"An investigation has been launched into an Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the passenger list, the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin is among them," Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation agency, was cited as saying by the state TASS news agency.

Russia's emergency situations ministry earlier said the private Embraer Legacy aircraft was carrying ten people including three crew members and travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. According to Reuters, everyone had been killed.

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