Search operation area at Tu-154 crash site expanded

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The search operation area at the crash site of the Tu-154 aircraft operated by the Russian Defense Ministry has been expanded, a source in the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Southern Regional Center informed TASS on Monday. "The search operation continues, its area has been expanded," the source said. At the moment, the group involved in the search operation has been reinforced to reach 3,500 people and 200 pieces of equipment. It includes the forces of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the Russian Defense Ministry, the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Russian Health Ministry and the law enforcement agencies. "A total of 39 vessels and 32 aerial vehicles are working in the area, unmanned aircraft are involved in the operation as well," the Russian Emergencies Ministry said. Russian Transport Minister, Maxim Sokolov said earlier on Monday he believes it is necessary to expand the search area for aircraft debris and bodies of those who died in the Tu-154 crash. Speaking at a meeting of the emergency operations center set up after the disaster, he asked all those involved in that search and rescue operation to expand the search area. The Russian Defense Ministry’s Tu-154 plane disappeared from radar screens at 05.40 a.m. Moscow time (02.40 a.m. GMT) shortly after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi on early Sunday. There were 92 people on board the aircraft in total, including eight crew members and 84 passengers. Among the passengers was the Executive Director of the Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity fund, Elizaveta Glinka, better known to the Russian public as Dr. Liza, as well as military servicemen and nine reporters from Russia's Channel One, Zvezda and NTV networks. The plane was also carrying 68 members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian Armed Forces. The ensemble was on its way to celebrate the New Year with the group of Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim air base in Syria. The choir’s conductor Valery Khalilov was also among the passengers. The Defense Ministry said that fragments of the crashed Tu-154 had been discovered some 1.5 kilometers off the coast of Sochi at the depth of 50-70 meters. Eleven bodies of the crash victims have been found. No one has survived. A large-scale search and rescue operation is underway. Read more