A passenger jet has crashed in heavy fog on a highway in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people. The Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Olga Semyonova said. Her ministry said in a website statement that 44 people were killed. Eight survivors, including a 10-year-old boy, were hospitalised in critical condition in Petrozavodsk. Ms Semyonova said the plane went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing one to one mile short of the runway. It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, she said. Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 400 miles northwest of Moscow. Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the Interfax news agency quoted the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were "unfavorable weather conditions."