A Russian passenger plane belonging to the Wagner Group crashed today, Saturday, near the "Gao-Northern Mali" airport, with 173 passengers on board, all of whom are reported to have died in the incident. Sources indicated that the plane fell near the Korgosso camp in the city of Gao in northern Mali.
It is believed that the aircraft belonged to the Russian Air Force and was of the "Ilyushin IL-76" model. Sergey Daniel, a journalist specializing in Mali and the Sahara, stated in a post on the platform "X" (formerly Twitter) that the plane crashed while attempting to land at Gao airport. He added that the aircraft was carrying both passengers and equipment, mentioning that a series of explosions were heard coming from the plane's fuel tank. An investigation into the incident has been launched. The plane had taken off that morning from the Rakan airport in Algeria, which is situated far to the south near the Mali border and is used by Wagner as a permanent military base.
