Four people on board a private aeroplane died when it crashed near the city of St Petersburg, Russian news agency (Itar-Tass) on Saturday. The plane, a Yakovlev Yak-18T, had caught fire mid-flight and crashed shortly before reaching a residential area, the report said. The accident may have been caused by an attempt at aerobatics by the pilot, who was from the Nevsky Aeroclub in St Petersburg, 50 kilometres away.(