The Russian navy found the wreckage of the missing military Tu-154 aircraft in the Black Sea, Defense Ministry authorities said Sunday [Xinhua]
President Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to the families and friends of the TU-154 crash in the Black Sea near Sochi, Russia.
The TU-154 military transport disappeared shortly after take off around dawn Moscow time. It was carrying 92 passengers and crew; among them were journalists and army choir musicians flying to the Syrian port of Latakia to celebrate the new year with Russian servicemen in Syria.
The head of a Russian charity fund was also on board.
The Russian defense ministry said that it had retrieved four bodies from the Black Sea but there were no survivors of the crash.
Putin has ordered the prime minister to establish a state investigative commission to probe why the plane went down.
Defense ministry spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that ships, helicopters and drones had been dispatched to the crash area.
“Fragments of the Tu-154 plane have been found at a depth of 70 meters some 1.5 kilometers from the coast of Sochi,” he said in statements carried by the Russian news agency TASS.
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