Russian Plane Crash: Eleven bodies discovered till now from the Sea
December 26, 2016-EUROPE
A substantial search and rescue operation is under way in the Black Sea after a Russian military plane crashed Sunday with 92 on board. Eleven bodies have so far been recovered.
The Tupolev Tu-154 plane carrying 84 passengers and eight-crew crashed in the Black Sea near Sochi, after vanishing from radar Sunday morning local time.
The Defense Ministry said there seemed to be no survivors. Russia is witnessing a national day of grieving Monday.
The ministry said 3,500 search and rescue employees presently are involved in the search.
Ships, divers and aircraft keep arriving in the search operation region. The search-and-rescue operation has 39 ships and cutters, 135 divers and 7 deep-water vehicles.
Military personnel keep inspecting the shoreline to find and collect the bodies, debris of the plane and personal possessions of passengers.
A military plane carrying 10 bodies and wreckages of debris had flown to Moscow on Monday where DNA testing would be carried out, the ministry said.
It said experts had been able to more precisely found the crash site by using data from radio location equipment, but that the search was complicated by varying sea depth.
The Tupolev plane was carrying participants of the army’s official choir — the Alexandrov Ensemble –“flying to applaud Russian air force pilots in Syria with the New Year,” Defense Ministry said Sunday.
