Ukraine's government has confirmed five fatalities from the Antonov An-24 crash at Donetsk airport.

The country's emergency situations ministry states that the twin-engined aircraft exited the runway while landing, then overturned and broke up.

It had been arriving at 18:09 after a domestic flight, YG8971, from Odessa.

Another five occupants of the An-24 were evacuated from the wreck, assisted by emergency services.

Donetsk weather data shows the presence of fog at the time of the crash. While the landing runway has not been confirmed, winds were from the east and the meteorological data notes low visibility for runway 08.

The ministry says emergency services were engaged in rescue operations within 3min of the accident, and the initial search phase has been completed.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister will head the investigation commission into the accident, it adds.

Odessa-based South Airlines had been operating the service. It says it has set up an emergency telephone line in response to the accident.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news