L-410 plane crashed in a forest in Russia’s Kemerovo region , Siberia

Social media showed pictures of the heavily-damaged plane with an ambulance nearby.

At least seven parachutists were killed and more than a dozen injured after a twin-engine L-410 plane crashed in a forest in Russia’s Kemerovo region in southwest Siberia, Russian media reported on Saturday.

 Seventeen people were injured in the crash near Tanay Airfield, he said the plane crashed in a nearby forest and quoted local prosecutors as saying the crew had sent a distress signal about an engine failure. 

The civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia told Reuters that a search and rescue operation was underway and declined to provide details.