DUSHANBE, November 18, Asia-Plus – On Monday November 18, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sent a cable of condolences to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over the deadly air crash that took place in Kazan on November 17, according to the Tajik president’s official website.

Rahmon asked President Putin to convey words of compassion and sympathy to the families and friends of those who had been killed in that air crash.

A passenger plane crashed at an airport in the Russian city of Kazan Sunday evening, killing all 50 people on board.

The Boeing 737 had taken off from Moscow and was trying to land but exploded on impact at about 19:20 local time.

The Emergencies Ministry said there were 44 passengers and six crew members on the Tatarstan Airlines flight.

Investigators are now looking at whether a technical failure or crew error may have caused the crash.  It was raining in Kazan when the aircraft crashed.  The crew had said they were not ready to land because of technical problems, Russian news agencies report.