Brussels - The European Commission is ready to provide "up to 500 million euros" (714 million dollars) in additional aid to Georgia to help it recover from the war with Russia, EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday.

The European Union executive hopes that its proposal of a Stabilization and Growth Package for Georgia will be approved by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The additional money comes on top of the roughly 100 million euros already being planned for Georgia this year, and it will add to any bilateral aid being provided by the EU's individual member states.

Moscow - Russian investigators ruled out a terrorist attack as the cause of a plane crash which killed 88 people on Sunday, saying an engine fault was responsible.

An Aeroflot Nord Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed near Russia's Ural mountains as it readied to land in the city of Prem on a flight from Moscow, killing all 88 people on board, including 21 foreign nationals, early Sunday morning.

Moscow - An Aeroflot Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed near Russia's Ural mountains on Sunday, killing all 88 people on board including 21 foreign nationals.

The Russian airliner reportedly caught fire in the air and lost control as it readied to land in the city of Perm early morning Sunday.

The wreckage burned just metres from a residential community and debris blocked a section of Russia's Trans-Siberian railway.

Television showed firefighters and investigators sifting through the wreckage which was spread over about four square kilometres, officials said.

Investigators have recovered the aircraft's two black box recorders, which they hope will clarify the cause of the accident.

Moscow, Sept 14 : At least 88 people died when a Boeing-737 airliner they were flying in crashed in the Sibera region. No casualties were reported on the ground as the plane reportedly crashed in open fields.

Around 21 of those dead were foreigners.

The plane was flying from Moscow to the Siberian city of Perm when it crashed in an unpopulated area as it was landing, said the agencies, The Telegraph quoted Aeroflot as saying in a statement.

“The Boeing-737 carried 82 passengers on board, including seven children, and six crew... All passengers were killed,” added the statement.

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.

Moscow