Villagers hear bang, then see Prigozhin plane plummet to the ground

A wreckage of the private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Marina Lystseva

KUZHENKINO, Russia (Reuters) - Residents of a village near the site of a plane crash which is believed to have killed Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said they had heard a bang, then saw the jet plummet to the ground.

The plane, an Embraer Legacy 600 private jet, crashed on Wednesday near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region on its way from Moscow to St. Petersburg and killed all 10 people on board - seven passengers and three crew members.