Chinese leaders send condolences over Moscow plane fire

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a condolence message to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over a fatal plane fire accident in Moscow on Sunday.

This handout grab of a video obtained from the Instagram account of Gunkevitch on May 5, 2019, shows a fire of a Russian-made Superjet-100 at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow. [Photo: AFP]

Xi said in his message that he was shocked to learn that a passenger plane caught fire before an emergency landing at the Sheremetyevo International Airport, causing heavy casualties and property loss.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name, Xi extended deep condolences over the loss of lives and expressed sincere sympathies to the injured and the bereaved families.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also sent a message to his counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, expressing condolences over the deaths and expressed sympathies to the injured and the bereaved families.