MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's Emergencies Ministry says a passenger airliner from Dubai has crashed while trying to land at the airport in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

A ministry statement says the crash occurred Saturday morning and identified the plane as a Boeing 737-800 that was coming from Dubai, but did not say how many people were aboard. Russian news reports cited unnamed sources as saying there were around 60 people aboard.

The FlyDubai airline said on its Facebook page: "We are aware of an incident involving our flight FZ981 from Dubai to Rostov On Don. We are investigating."

State news agency Tass reported that the Investigative Committee, the country's top investigative agency, said preliminary information indicates the plane was landing when it hit the ground and broke into pieces at the airport about 950 kilometers (600 miles) south of Moscow.

There was no immediate information on the cause, although some news reports suggested weather could have been a factor. There was rain and winds of about 11 meter per second (25 mph) at the time of the crash.

On Oct. 31, a Russian airliner blew up in the air over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 aboard. Investigators determined it was destroyed by a bomb onboard.