MOSCOW – There has been shocked at an airport in far east Russia after bars of precious metal rained down onto the runway.
A plane laden with tonnes of gold-silver alloy was taking off from Yakutsk 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 material belonging to the Mining and Geological Company in the neighboring Chukotka region, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed Thursday. The unsecured cargo fell from the back of the plane when the hatch opened during take-off. The offending hatch then detached from the plane and fell on a local auto market. No one was injured in the incident.
Yakutsk Airport insists that the plane was operational and was ready for the flight. After leaving its cargo on the runway, the plane made a successful landing at the nearby Magan Airport. The investigative committee did not disclose the nature of the lost metal but Russia’s eastern region is 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 172 gold bars weighing about 3.4 tons were recovered. According to the Mash Telegram channel, the total cargo is worth the hefty sum of 21.6 billion rubles (US$380 million).
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According to an official from the Canadian-based Kinross Gold Corporation, which operates mines in Russia, the trove are Doré bars, semi-pure alloys of gold and silver which are later transported to a refinery for purification.
Local residents were hit with ‘gold fever’ after receiving news of the blunder, according to local media reports. A map containing detailed directions to the treasure site was circulated online. However, a law enforcement source told TASS that all the bars have been collected.
