A Russian military plane with 92 people on board, including a famed army choir, has crashed into the Black Sea shortly after taking off, the Russian defence ministry said.

Tu-154 plane had departed from the southern Russian city of Adler on Sunday moring and was heading towards Latakia in Syria. The plane dropped off radar shortly after take-off at 5:40am local time (02:40 GMT) Sunday Morning,

Those on board included Russian servicemen and artists from the Russian military’s official choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, who were on their way to celebrate the upcoming New Year with air force personnel at the Khmeimim air base near Latakia in western Syria, the defence source told RIA. Nine Russian journalists were also on board.

The body of a person killed as a result the crash … was found six kilometres off the coast of Sochi,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told agencies.

“The body was taken on board of a rescue ship.”

Nine Russian reporters had also been on board as well as military servicemen.

fragments of the plane had been found at a depth of about 70 metres in the Black Sea about 1.5 km off the coast near the city of Sochi.