A four-year-old child is believed to be the sole survivor after a plane crashed in Russia.

The small passenger jet was carrying seven people when it reportedly came down as it was about to land at the local airport in Nelkan, in the country's far east region.

The village is situated more than 620 miles from the regional capital, Khabarovsk.

Six people are thought to have been killed, including two crew members, a source told Interfax.

The plane, not pictured, is thought to have hit the ground at high speed (
Image:
Alex Beltyukov)

The four-year-old child survived the crash and is being treated in hospital, according to local authorities.

The Let L-410 Turbolet twin-engine short-range passenger plane crashed at 1.30pm local time (3.30am UK), the local office of the Emergencies Ministry told RT.

“The plane crashed into the ground at a high speed,” a source in emergency services told Interfax.

The source added that pilots may have wrongly estimated the distance left to the ground due to complex weather conditions.