Forty-one people died after a Russian plane made an emergency landing and burst into flames just after take-off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

A dramatic video shows passenger using emergency exit slides to escape the burning Aeroflot aircraft. Though the survivors suggest the plane was struck by lightning, but Russia’s national carrier said only that it returned to the airport for technical reasons.

Two children are among the dead. The jet had 73 passengers and five crew.

Initial reports did suggest that the plane had landed on fire, but sources quoted by Russian news agencies said that the jet caught fire after a very bumpy landing. The crew did send a distress signal when “malfunctions” occurred in bad weather shortly after take-off. The aircraft landed with full fuel tanks because the crew lost contact with air traffic controllers and decided it was too dangerous to dump fuel over Moscow.

After making an emergency landing at the airport, the plane’s engines caught fire on the runway, Aeroflot said, adding that the crew “did everything to save the passengers”.

37 passengers out of which 33 were passengers and four crew members said to have survived by sources. One witness said it was a “miracle” for anyone to have escaped. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a special committee to investigate the disaster