Coffins of 164 Russian victims of Sinai plane crash head home

Coffins of 164 of the Russian passengers who died in a plane crash on Saturday over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have flown home on Sunday night, Egypt’s civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal stated.

Kamal said the coffins contain 122 identified corpses and 42 unidentified remains.

On Saturday morning, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt’s central Sinai, killing all 217 passengers and seven crew members, with the reasons behind the crash yet to be determined.

A total of 214 passengers were Russian, while three were Ukrainian.

As of Sunday afternoon, Egyptian authorities said they have recovered 187 bodies from the site of the crash in Sinai.

DNA tests have been carried out [at Cairo’s morgue] to identify unidentified corpses by matching them with DNA belonging to their families, Shabaan El-Shamy, a spokesman of Egypt’s Forensic Authority told state news agency MENA on Sunday.

The plane lost contact with radar at 6.20am CLT (Cairo local time) on Saturday, less than half an hour after takeoff. It was reportedly flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Egypt has accepted a Russian request to allow Russian experts to take part in the ongoing investigation into the causes of the crash.

source:Ahram Online