A passenger plane carrying 43 people crashed in Siberia shortly after taking off Monday morning, and Russian emergency officials said at least 32 were confirmed dead..

The ATR-72, a French-Italian-made twin-engine turboprop, operated by UTair was flying from Tyumen to the oil town of Surgut with 39 passengers and four crew.

The aircraft went down outside Tyumen, a major regional center in Siberia. The cause of the crash was not yet clear.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova said the 12 survivors were being flown to a hospital by helicopter. She said 16 bodies had been recovered so far.

The state RIA-Novosti news agency, citing rescue workers, said 17 people had survived the crash.

Russia has seen a string of deadly crashes in recent years. Some have been blamed on the use of aging Soviet-era aircraft, but industry experts point to a number of other problems, including poor crew training, crumbling airports, lax government controls and widespread neglect of safety in the pursuit of profits. (AP)