MOSCOW (AP):

A plane crashed into a forest early yesterday in Russia's far east, killing 10 people and injuring four, the Emergencies Ministry said.

The Antonov-28 plane crash-landed in a cedar forest near the town of Palana in western Kamchatka, some 6,800 kilometres (4,200 miles) east of Moscow, it said in a web-posted statement.

The two-engine turboprop had 14 people aboard, including two children and two crew members, it said. One of the survivors, a comatose 13-year-old boy, was hospitalised with a massive cranial wound, it said.

Local airport officials told the Interfax news agency that possible causes of the crash include an engine malfunction or low visibility in bad weather.

The plane, belonging to the Petropavlovsko-Kamchatskaya airline, was flying from the regional capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana.