Body Found in Black Sea after Russian Military Plane Crash
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia’s defense ministry said a body had been recovered from the Black Sea after a Syria-bound military plane carrying 91 people crashed Sunday, local news agencies reported.
"The body of a person killed as a result the crash of the Russian defense ministry’s Tu-154 was found six kilometers off the coast of Sochi," defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, AP reported.
"The body was taken on board of a rescue ship."
A Russian passenger plane with 92 people aboard, including a famed military band on the way to Syria, crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday minutes after takeoff from the resort city of Sochi, the Defense ministry said.
The Tu-154 that belonged to the Defense Ministry was carrying the famous Alexandrov choir for a concert at the Russian air base in Syria, the ministry said.
A total of 84 passengers and eight crew were on board the plane that dropped off radars minutes after taking off. Emergency services found its fragments about 1.5 kilometers from shore at a depth of 50-70 meters, the ministry said.
There was no word of survivors.
Nine Russian journalists, including a TV crew from Channel One, were among the passengers.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.
The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner.