Russia said on Tuesday that a technical malfunction caused a military plane to crash into an apartment building near Ukraine a day earlier, killing over a dozen people and sparking an uproar among locals.

Late Monday’s crash ignited a massive fire at the Soviet-style apartment block, but in the morning rescue workers cleared the charred debris and grieving locals left flowers at a memorial.

Authorities on Tuesday reported a 15th death after the Sukhoi Su-34 plane crashed into the building in Yeysk, which is across a narrow stretch of the Azov Sea from Ukraine’s Russian-held port of Mariupol.

A resident of Yeisk told state TV channel Rossiya-24 that two of her friends who had recently bought an apartment in the building were killed.

“You just got a mortgage. We mourn,” she said.

Nineteen people were injured, four of them – including a five-year-old girl and a teenager – suffering life-threatening injuries, a regional official said.

Investigators said they were questioning the pilots, who managed to parachute out of the plane before it crashed into the nine-story building and burst into flames.

Amateur footage on social media showed locals running to one of the pilots, who was lying on the ground, still attached to his parachute.

The southern coastal city was shocked.

A local, Natalia Kush, told state media she saw the pilot exit the jet from her window.

“I heard a terrible explosion. I looked outside and saw the pilot flying right past me,” she told the news channel Rossiya 24, visibly shocked.

The investigative committee, which investigates serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal investigation into flight safety violations.

“The pilots who managed to get out and the airport staff are being questioned,” the investigators said.

It also said it had seized “fuel samples at the departure airfield” and “flight recorders at the scene of the crash”.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the jet collided with the block where around 600 people lived during a training flight.

Veniamin Kondratiev, the governor of Krasnodar Territory, which includes Yeysk, said the region will have a three-day mourning period.

He said residents of the building were temporarily housed and received psychological help.

Locals, meanwhile, left flowers and children’s toys at a makeshift memorial near the building, where a black plaque read, “Yeysk. 10/17/2022. We remember. We are sad.”

Locals placed red roses, candles and smiling teddy bears around the board in memory of the three children who died in the crash.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin “extends his deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones as a result of this disaster.”

Images of the dramatic crash showed the plane’s burned-out fuselage, which broke in two on impact.

A red star—the symbol of the Russian army—was emblazoned on one of its tattered wings.

The remains of wrecked parked cars were strewn and trapped at the base of the building as the fire engulfed at least five of its floors.