More bodies of air crash victims airlifted to Armenia

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 6 2006

YEREVAN, May 6 (Itar-Tass) -Bodies of eight people who died in the
air crash near Sochi were airlifted to the Armenian capital Yerevan
last night, an official of Armenia’s company Armavia, to which the
A-320 plane was registered, has said.

He told ITAR-TASS that seven other bodies would be brought to Yerevan
by air on Saturday.

He expressed doubt that “bodies of all passengers and crewmembers
can be found”.

The scheduled flight of Armavia also took on the board 26 relatives
of the dead who were staying in Sochi for identifying the bodies.

Armenian National Security Service former director Lieutenant-General
Karlos Petrosyan, who is at present an advisor to the administration of
Russia’s company Transneft, returned to Yerevan from Sochi last night.

His 21-year-old son Aram was on the ill-fated flight. His body has
not been found so far.

The A-320 passenger plane that was en route from Yerevan to Russia’s
sea resort of Sochi crashed into the Black Sea during a landing
approach to Sochi on May 3 night.

The crash claimed 113 lives.

According to the latest information, 53 bodies have been recovered
from the sea, 42 of which have been identified.

A plane of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry ferried remains
of 26 crash victims to Yerevan on Friday.

Saturday is the second day of mourning announced in Armenia in
connection with the tragedy.

Flags are flying half-mast, all culture functions have been cancelled,
and television and radio programmes changed.