MOSCOW – A plane laden with tonnes of gold-silver alloy was taking off fromYakutsk airport in Siberia when a loading hatch broke off. Some 200 bars,each weighing about 20kg (44 pounds), were then scattered across the runway.
A Nimbus Airlines An-12 plane was carrying more than nine tons of materialbelonging to the Mining and Geological Company in the neighboring Chukotkaregion, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed Thursday. The unsecuredcargo fell from the back of the plane when the hatch opened duringtake-off. The offending hatch then detached from the plane and fell on alocal auto market. No one was injured in the incident.
Yakutsk Airport insists that the plane was operational and was ready forthe flight. After leaving its cargo on the runway, the plane made asuccessful landing at the nearby Magan Airport. The investigative committeedid not disclose the nature of the lost metal but Russia’s eastern regionis famous for its gold mines and diamond production.
Local witnesses reported that the photos were gold, platinum, and gems.TASS cited officials from the Interior Ministry as saying that some 172gold bars weighing about 3.4 tons were recovered. According to the MashTelegram channel, the total cargo is worth the hefty sum of 21.6 billionrubles (US$380 million).WATCH VIDEO: link