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                     Crash Victims' Bodies Return to Russia

   by VOA News

   The first bodies of victims of the Russian airplane crash in Egypt
   arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport Monday morning aboard a
   Russian government plane.

   St. Petersburg authorities have decided mourning activities for those
   killed in the crash will last until Tuesday in Russia's second city.
   Russian President Valdimir Putin declared Sunday a national day of
   mourning.

   The Metrojet flight disappeared Saturday from radar over the Sinai
   peninsula with 224 people aboard.

   Nearly all of the passengers aboard the Metrojet charter flight were
   Russian tourists returning to St. Petersburg from the Egyptian resort
   town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Three Ukrainians were also among the dead.

   The doomed flight likely "disintegrated" in the air, Russian aviation
   officials said Sunday.

   Emergency crews have recovered both of the plane's black boxes, which
   record flight data and pilot communications.

   After visiting the crash site, Russian member of the investigation team
   Viktor Sorochenko said fragments of the Airbus A321 "are strewn over a
   large area," according to RIA-Novosti news agency in Cairo.

   Several airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa, Dubai-based
   Emirates, and Qatar Airways have said they will stop flying over the
   Sinai peninsula for safety reasons.

   ''

   Militants claiming affiliation to the Islamic State said they shot down
   jet. But aviation and military experts believe the group does not have
   missiles that could have reached the plane's altitude of 9,100 meters.

   Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday said the
   investigation into the crash "could take months."

   The aircraft went down roughly 100 kilometers south of the town of
   El-Arish, about 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh before
   dawn Saturday.

   Egyptian Civil Aviation chief Hossam Kamal said safety checks before
   the flight did not turn up any problems and said the pilot did not
   issue an SOS before the plane disappeared.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/crash-victims-bodies-return-to-russia/3032663.html