No definite reason for the crash has yet been put forward, but officials said that the black box flight recorders have been found and sent to Moscow for examination.

"There are many versions," the spokesman for the emergency situations ministry said.

"The landing gear may have caught fire while landing, igniting the rest of the plane. Or there was a short circuit while the plane was still in the air, which disabled the brakes," the spokesman told AFP.

The landing at Irkutsk airport is said to be unusually difficult because of the relatively short runway, lodged among mountains.

One enquiry official said the plane's hydraulic brakes had failed to function.

"The information we have shows that after landing... there was a failure in the braking system that led other mechanisms in the system to break down," the official told RIA-Novosti news agency.

"This meant the plane was basically out of control after landing," the unnamed official said.

Prosecutors announced they had opened a criminal enquiry into the crash.

In Moscow, relatives gathered at Domodedovo airport and prepared to leave for Irkutsk, some becoming distraught on learning the fate of loved ones.

"They're trying to calm us down. They're saying there's still a chance -- it's chaos there," said Volodya, whose 22-year-old niece was among the passengers, as he waited at a temporary crisis centre where pre-packaged aeroplane meals were handed out to relatives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a government enquiry to be set up, Transport Minister Igor Levitin said.

Putin expressed "his deep condolences to relatives and friends of those who died in the plane crash in Irkutsk," the Kremlin press service said.

The Russian leader declared Monday a national day of mourning, calling for flags to be flown at half-mast and for television channels to cancel entertainment shows, the Kremlin said in a written statement.

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