A Boeing-737 jet crashed near Perm killing all 82 passengers and six crew on board.

"The Boeing-737 carried 82 passengers on board, including seven children, and six crew. All passengers died," Aeroflot said in a statement.

Several foreigners were on the flight, including passport-holders from Azerbaijan, Italy, China, Germany, France and Ukraine, said Lev Koshlyakov, spokesman for flight operator Aeroflot Nord. Authorities are trying to confirm the presence of an American on board, spokesman for flight operatior Aeroflot Nord Lev Koshlyakov said.

"The airplane operated by Aeroflot Nord departed from the Sheremetyevo airport at 1:12 a.m. Sunday. As the plane was coming in for landing, it lost communication at the height of 1,100 meters and air controllers lost its blip. The airplane was found within Perm's city limits completely destroyed and on fire. There were no survivors," the statement added.

According to Perm citizens who witnessed the terrible crash, "the airplane was caught on fire when it was still in the air. Like a comet, it roared through the sky and crashed".

"I live right next to the railroad. I was working on my computer right next to the window. I heard a loud noise and saw that the sky was red. Then something flew across the sky, and then I heard a loud explosion. I dashed outside and saw other people. They told me it was an airplane. I went to the site and saw debris, passports, human legs and hands...."

"I woke up because of a loud explosion. I dressed up and went outside. There were many people, some of them saw the plane crash. The plane fell between the railroad and the river. The plane was coming from the airport. It hit the ground at 30 degrees. Witnesses say they first heard a slam, then a loud crack and an explosion. Flames were almost 10 storeys high".

The plane fell in a deserted area of Industrialny city district just meters away from apartment houses. There were no victims on the ground.

"The airplane was found within the city's limits in a deserted area, there were no traces of casualties there," the emergency ministry's spokeswoman Irina Andrianova said.

The entire area was cordoned off by police to help investigators. The wreckage was strewn over some ten square kilometers, officials said, adding that the flames had been completely put out.

The cause of the accident is not immediately clear, though a source quoted by RIA Novosti suggested that an engine failure could have sparked flames on board and led to the crash.

Aeroflot set up a crisis center for families of the crash victims both in Moscow's Sheremetyevo-1 airport and in Perm, including psychological aid, the company said.

The airline also pledged to pay "compensation on obligatory accident insurance in full, which would make up to two million rubles (some 80,000 dollars) per casualty," the company's statement said.

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the accident to Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev, the Kremlin press service said.

An investigative group headed by Transport Minister Igor Levitin flew out to the site.

The emergency situations ministry considered sending a rescue team to the site from Moscow, but later reported that "Perm had sufficient resources to deal with the search and rescue mission and decided to delay sending out experts from Moscow."

The Trans-Siberian Railway, which had been damaged in the accident, was cut off on the stretch between Perm and Yekaterinburg, and all trains put on detour, local police officials said.