Moscow - More than 20 foreigners were among the 82 passengers and five crew members on the Boeing 737 airliner that crashed in Perm, Russia, early Sunday, the Aeroflot airline reported.

Sited by the Interfax news agency, Aeroflot said that nine Azerbaijanis, 5 Ukrainians, and a person each from Germany, Switzerland, France, Latvia, Italy, the US and Turkey.

Russian officials initially reported that no non-Russians had been aboard the plane, which was flying from Moscow to Perm near the Ural Mountains. There were no survivors.

Investigators at the scene meanwhile reported finding both of the aircrafts black box recorders, which would provide insights into the cause of the accident.

Irina Andrianova, spokeswoman for the Civil Defence Ministry, said the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control at around 1800 metres off the ground. The plane exploded into flames upon hitting the ground, she added.

The Boeing 737-500 was delivered in 1992, Aeroflot said. It had been in the fleet of subsidiary Aeroflot-North since the summer of 2008, and had previously been owned by China's Xiamen Airlines.

The airplane was leased by Aeroflot until 2013 from Irish firm Pinewatch Limited. (dpa)