Russia: EMERCOM confirm identification of nine victims from Sinai crash

Russia's Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) reported from Moscow Tuesday that the remains of nine victims of the Egyptian plane crash were identified. Two Ilyushin Il-76 aircrafts brought the bodies, remains and possessions of the deceased back to St Petersburg from the Sinai. The Deputy Head of the National Centre for Crisis Management, Anton Smirnov, said "experts continued forensic tests with members of Russia's Investigative Committee to identify the remains." Regarding the investigation at the crash site, Smirnov added that "the second stage of the search and rescue operation is over". He stated "rescue teams explored more than 20 square kilometres of territory" but now "following an updated plan, the search area was extended to 30 square kilometres." The victims' families are "are receiving all the necessary help," with the most prominent issue being when the remains of the dead will be released for burial. On Saturday morning an Airbus-321 chartered by a Russian tour company lost altitude and crashed, killing all 224 people. The majority of passengers and crew were Russians, but there were also Belarusians and Ukrainians on board.