Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Two airplanes crashed within minutes of each other in separate incidents in southern and central Russia, Itar-Tass reported, citing Russia's Emergencies Ministry.

A TU-134 aircraft with 34 passengers and eight crew on board crashed at 10:56 p.m. Moscow time in the Tula region about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Moscow, Itar-Tass cited Marina Ryklina, a ministry spokeswoman as saying. The plane was on its way to Volgograd, she said. The report didn't say anything about casualties, the news agency said.

A TU-154 plane with 44 people on board crashed near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time while flying to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Itar-Tass said. The plane hasn't yet been found, it said.

The incidents may have been the result of terrorist attacks, Itar-Tass cited unidentified air traffic controllers as saying in Moscow. Yevegeniy Khorishko, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington, said in a telephone interview Russian reports said the aircraft left Moscow's Demodedovo airport within three minutes of each other.

(Itar-Tass 8-25)

To contact the reporters on this story: Vladimir Todres in Moscow at vtodres@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 24, 2004 19:23 EDT