Divers have found more fragments from the military plane which crashed into the Black Sea with 92 people on board, Russia's emergency ministry has said.
More than 3,000 rescuers have been involved in the search after the plane came down on its way to Syria, according to the defence ministry.
All 84 passengers and eight crew members on the Tu-154 aircraft are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off from Sochi airport on Sunday.
Among the passengers were dozens of singers in Russia's world-famous military choir.
Searchers on 32 ships were combing the crash site at sea and along the shore, the defence ministry said.
The search operation covered more than 100 sq km (38 square miles) and involved planes, helicopters and drones.
Deep-water equipment and more than 100 divers were hunting below the surface.
Powerful spotlights were brought in so the search operation could continue around the clock.
The cause of the plane crash is likely to be pilot error or a technical fault, the Russian transport minister has said.
Terrorism was not among the main theories, Maxim Sokolov added.
Experts said there were several factors that could suggest a terror attack, such as the crew's failure to report any malfunction and the fact that plane debris was scattered over a wide area.
The plane was taking the Alexandrov Ensemble - better known as the Red Army Choir - to perform at a New Year's concert at the Russian air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
Valery Khalilov, the choir's conductor, perished in the crash.
Also on board were nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor famous for her work in war zones and helping homeless people.
No comments:
Post a Comment