Il-76 disappears while putting out forest fire in Irkutsk

An Il-76 aircraft circling territories stricken by forest fires in Russia's Irkutsk region failed to report back to rescuers at the scheduled time.

"The aircraft with rescuers on board should have made contact at 5:34 Moscow time but failed to do so," TASS cited a source in the local emergency services as saying.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the incident, noting that a rescue helicopter had been sent on a search mission, Sputnik reports.

The ministry confirmed that there were 10 people on board.