Divers searching for a hijacked An-2 biplane that went missing more than a week ago with 13 revelers on board came back empty-handed Wednesday afternoon after scouring a reservoir earlier believed to be the crash site.
"What was assumed to be the [crash] site has been searched. The airplane was not found," a source in the Urals security services told RIA-Novosti.
An emergency services source had told Interfax on Wednesday morning that a large patch of oil was discovered on the surface of a reservoir to the north of Serov, the Urals city from which the light aircraft disappeared on June 11.
At the time, the source presumed this oil spot was a trace of the missing plane.
The latest rescue efforts come after more than 1,000 emergency situations staff, police, hunters, fisherman and tourists were reported scouring the surrounding area Monday.
Sverdlovsk region investigators believe that the head of the local traffic police and at least one of his subordinates were traveling on the missing plane, which they reportedly hijacked while drunk.
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