India: Artist creates 7K9268 plane sand sculpture in tribute to victims

Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand sculpture on a beach at Odisha on Sunday, in tribute to the 224 people who lost their lives on the Russian Kogalymavia (Metrojet) 7K9268 flight that crashed in Egypt on Saturday. The artist built a sculpture of the Kogalymavia Airbus A321 that includes figures of a dead woman and child lying next to the plane. The memorial was given the accompanying message "tribute to innocent souls." Kogalymavia flight 7K9268 crashed in Sinai around 23 minutes after take-off. There were a total of 224 people on board - 217 passengers, including 25 children, and seven crew members, with reports indicating that all but five passengers - four Ukrainians and one Belarusian - were Russian. Russian and St. Petersburg flags, among others, flew at half-mast on government buildings and municipal facilities throughout St. Petersburg, Sunday, as President Vladimir Putin declared a day of national mourning following the crash.