Russian runway littered with gold bars after plane loses cargo

'As it gathered height, the cargo door became damaged due to the shifting of cargo'

Gold bars in a vault at Shinhan Bank in Seoul, South Korea (AFP/Getty)

A Russian runway was left covered with gold bars after a plane lost its cargo during takeoff.

As it was taking off from Yakutsk in Siberia, the aircraft's hold opened and 200 bars of the precious metal fell onto the tarmac.

“As it gathered height, the cargo door became damaged due to the shifting of cargo” and “part of the cargo was scattered on the runway,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The plane quickly returned to the airport and the area was sealed off to avoid people looting the scene, local media reported.

“172 bars have been found weighing around 3.4 tonnes,” the area's interior ministry told TASS state news agency. “Only part of the gold fell out — altogether there were around nine tonnes in there.”

The gold is believed to have come from the nearby Kupol mine, a combination underground and open pit gold and silver mine in the Bilibinsky District of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia.

A spokesperson for the company who owned the cargo told local media none was missing.