Russia mourns victims of crashed Egypt plane
3 Nov 2015 4:58 AM IST
Russia today mourned its biggest ever air disaster after a passenger jet full of Russian tourists crashed in Egypt’s Sinai, killing all 224 people on board.
Flags were at half mast on the parliament building, in the Kremlin, and on other official buildings in honour of the victims, most of whom were from Russia’s second-largest city of Saint Petersburg.
Russia’s state-owned rolling news channel Rossiya 24 periodically interrupted coverage with moments of silence and flashed photos of smiling crash victims apparently taken on their vacations and posted on social networks. Some people had been on their first foreign holiday, some had never flown before, the channel said. Locals in Saint Petersburg brought flowers and cuddy toys to a makeshift memorial in the arrivals area of the city’s Pulkovo airport.
Several children, including a 10-month-old baby, perished in the crash, the cause of which is still unclear. Russian investigators searched the offices of Kogalymavia airline and the country’s transportation watchdog said it will continue checking it until November 30, but the charter carrier was still operating services Sunday. Kogalymavia’s representatives on Saturday evening said the pilot flying the Airbus 321 was very experienced, while authorities at the last fuel stop said there had not been any red flags.
“The plane did not undergo a technical check in Samara (in southeastern Russia), but the crew went through a health check and was found fit to fly,” said a regional transport prosecutor’s office representative Maya Ivanova. “There was a probe of the plane’s fuel and the quality of fuel at that time it met all of the requirements,” she said in televised remarks. Four Ukrainians were also among the victims, said Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“It is tragic when people die. It is twice as painful when compatriots die,” he wrote on Twitter, listing the four Ukrainian names. Many entertainment venues in Moscow cancelled their programmes and media organisations turned their social network icons monochrome as a mark of respect. President Vladimir Putin, whose office announced a day of national mourning, was however absent from
the screens.
Psychiatrists to prepare relatives of victims
Russian psychiatrists have begun to prepare relatives of over 200 victims who died in yesterday’s air crash in Egypt for the daunting identification process of charred bodies, which will soon be delivered to the grief- stricken kin. Psychiatrists and security officials in St. Petersburg have interviewed 137 people who were relatives of the passengers who died in the air crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board the Russian plane, St.Petersburg Vice-Governor Igor Albin said. Albin said bodies of victims would be delivered to St.Petersburg within 24 hours. “Until that time, we will be preparing relatives for the identification. The reaction during the identification may be quite different. It is important for the relatives to have a psychological opportunity to talk with investigators before the identification,” chief psychiatrist of the Russian Ministry of Health Zurab Kekelidze was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency. He further said that relatives of the victims continue to arrive at the airport. The first aircraft carrying passengers’ bodies may arrive in later today.
Flags were at half mast on the parliament building, in the Kremlin, and on other official buildings in honour of the victims, most of whom were from Russia’s second-largest city of Saint Petersburg.
Russia’s state-owned rolling news channel Rossiya 24 periodically interrupted coverage with moments of silence and flashed photos of smiling crash victims apparently taken on their vacations and posted on social networks. Some people had been on their first foreign holiday, some had never flown before, the channel said. Locals in Saint Petersburg brought flowers and cuddy toys to a makeshift memorial in the arrivals area of the city’s Pulkovo airport.
Several children, including a 10-month-old baby, perished in the crash, the cause of which is still unclear. Russian investigators searched the offices of Kogalymavia airline and the country’s transportation watchdog said it will continue checking it until November 30, but the charter carrier was still operating services Sunday. Kogalymavia’s representatives on Saturday evening said the pilot flying the Airbus 321 was very experienced, while authorities at the last fuel stop said there had not been any red flags.
“The plane did not undergo a technical check in Samara (in southeastern Russia), but the crew went through a health check and was found fit to fly,” said a regional transport prosecutor’s office representative Maya Ivanova. “There was a probe of the plane’s fuel and the quality of fuel at that time it met all of the requirements,” she said in televised remarks. Four Ukrainians were also among the victims, said Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“It is tragic when people die. It is twice as painful when compatriots die,” he wrote on Twitter, listing the four Ukrainian names. Many entertainment venues in Moscow cancelled their programmes and media organisations turned their social network icons monochrome as a mark of respect. President Vladimir Putin, whose office announced a day of national mourning, was however absent from
the screens.
Psychiatrists to prepare relatives of victims
Russian psychiatrists have begun to prepare relatives of over 200 victims who died in yesterday’s air crash in Egypt for the daunting identification process of charred bodies, which will soon be delivered to the grief- stricken kin. Psychiatrists and security officials in St. Petersburg have interviewed 137 people who were relatives of the passengers who died in the air crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board the Russian plane, St.Petersburg Vice-Governor Igor Albin said. Albin said bodies of victims would be delivered to St.Petersburg within 24 hours. “Until that time, we will be preparing relatives for the identification. The reaction during the identification may be quite different. It is important for the relatives to have a psychological opportunity to talk with investigators before the identification,” chief psychiatrist of the Russian Ministry of Health Zurab Kekelidze was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency. He further said that relatives of the victims continue to arrive at the airport. The first aircraft carrying passengers’ bodies may arrive in later today.
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