Moscow: At least 18 persons were injured as a plane skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi early on Saturday, a ministry statement said.

The incident occurred at 2.59 am, when a Boeing 737 plane of Russia's Utair airline from Moscow en route to Sochi with 164 passengers and six crew members on board skidded off the runway and ended up on the bank of a river, the statement said.

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The plane's landing gear and one of its wings were damaged, while the left engine caught fire. All passengers were safely evacuated. The fire has been put out, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

The injured included three children.

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Russia's aviation authorities and Utair have launched a probe.

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