KUZHENKINO, Russia, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Residents of a village near the site of a plane crash which is believed to have killed Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said they had heard a bang, then saw the jet plummet to the ground. A Reuters reporter at the crash site early on Thursday saw men taking away black body bags on stretchers. Part of the plane's blue-and-white liveried tail and other fragments lay on the ground near a wooded area. [1/2]A wreckage of the private jet linked to Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen near the crash site in the Tver region, Russia, August 24, 2023. Some unnamed sources told Russian media they believed the plane had been shot down by one or more surface-to-air missiles.

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Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vitaly Stepenok, Marina Lystseva, gesturing, Stepenok, Anatoly, I've, Prigozhin, Angus MacSwan, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Embraer, Kremlin, Defence Ministry, Reuters, REUTERS, Marina, Thomson Locations: KUZHENKINO, Russia, Kuzhenkino, Russia's Tver, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Tver, Ukraine, Russian