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Russia Offers Condolences to Chinese Killed in Air Crash
Russian FM Offers Condolence to Killed Chinese Passengers
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Wednesday expressed deep condolences to 12 Chinese nationals killed in Tuesday's crash of a Russian Tupolev 154 near the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
He expressed the condolences on behalf of President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov when meeting with Chinese Ambassador Wu Tao.
Russia will do its best to deal with consequences of the accident, the minister said.
Wu said the Chinese government and his embassy are paying close attention to the tragedy. Wu also sent condolences to families of the 12 Chinese victims on behalf of the Chinese embassy.
A diplomat of the embassy told Xinhua that the embassy and the Chinese consulate general in Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East will soon send officials to the crash site to help identify and transport remains of the Chinese victims.
The Tu-154 plane, belonging to the Vladivostokavia airline, on Tuesday night plunged down to the field while circling for a scheduled landing in Irkutsk, halfway through a flight from the Ural city of Yekaterinburg to Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.
It dropped from an altitude of 900 meters and killed all 145 people on board. It is Russia's worst civil air disaster in years.
145 Bodies FoundThe searching work has finished at the crash site of the Russian Tupolev-154 passenger plane, with bodies of all the 145 people on board found and both of the plane' s two "black boxes" recovered, the Emergencies Ministry's press service said Wednesday.
The victims include six children and 12 Chinese nationals.
An investigating group is continuing working at the scene, 22 kilometers away from the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
Television pictures showed a crash site strewn with burned debris and corpses. Of the plane, only the rear wing remained undamaged, bearing the logo of Vladivostokavia airline.
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday declared July 5 as a national day of mourning for the victims of the accident, the country's worst civil air disaster in years, said the presidential press service.
Flags will be flown at half mast across the country, while all entertainment at cultural centers and on both the television and radio banned.
The crashed plane, which was built in 1986 and had a capital repair just a few months ago, plunged down to the ground late Tuesday from an altitude of 900 meters while circling for a scheduled landing in Irkutsk, halfway through a flight from the Ural city of Yekaterinburg to Vladivostok on Russia's Pacific coast.
It made two abortive attempts to land and crashed on its third approach, killing all 136 passengers and 9 crew members on board.
Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, who arrived at the tragedy scene early Wednesday to head the clean-up operation, said the catastrophe was likely to be caused by failure of all its three engines.
The Interfax news agency quoted sources near the investigation commission as saying that an engine failure is viewed as the most likely cause, and a short circuit may have led to the breakdown of the three engines one after another.
They said, however, conclusion could be made only after the analysis of all evidence collected at the scene, especially of the two flight data recorders.
The Tuesday crash is the fourth of its kind since 1994 involving a Tupolev-154, the main medium-range workhorse of Russia 's civil jet fleet. A total of more than 350 people have been killed in these accidents.
A senior official with the Transportation Ministry said Wednesday the service of Tupolev-154 will not end despite the disaster.
"We do not doubt the plane's reliability," said Vladimir Rudakov, who heads the flight safety supervision office.
Russia has an elderly civil aviation fleet, mostly built in Soviet times, but suffered no major air disaster in several years.
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