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Russian Emergency Situations Ministry sends second plane to Indonesia

The first plane of the ministry departed to Jakarta on Friday afternoon with 42 specialists of Tsentrospas

MOSCOW, May 11 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has send the second plane to Indonesia for assisting the works on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) crash scene.

The second Ilyushin Il-76 plane of the ministry has departed from the Ramesnkoye airfield in the Moscow region to Jakarta, the ministry said. “It is carrying specialists of the Leader Center, a BK-117 search helicopter and other necessary equipment,” he said.

The first plane of the ministry departed to Jakarta on Friday afternoon with 42 specialists of Tsentrospas, a medical and psychological support team and equipment, including a search helicopter, the ministry said. The personnel would assist the search for flight data recorders of the crashed SSJ100 and other works.

The SSJ100 crashed during a show flight on May 9. It had 45 people aboard, among them eight citizens of Russia. Plane fragments were found in the Mount Salak area near Jakarta, at the altitude of 1,500 meters. Indonesian rescuers worked on the crash scene on Friday. The works were suspended in the dark. Russian detectives are going to Indonesia, too.

The Sukhoi website posted a list of 45 passengers and crewmembers of the crashed jet. Eight victims were citizens of Russia, 35 – citizens of Indonesia, one citizen of France and one citizen of the United States.

Twelve bodies were evacuated from the SSJ100 crash zone in Indonesia before dark on Friday, the crisis staff at the Jakarta Airport reports.

The bodies were carried downhill to a helicopter pad. It takes more than two hours to evacuate each body this way. The slope is steep, and plane fragments are being gathered on the altitude of approximately 850 meters.

The search will resume at dawn. The Indonesian rescuers are focused on the search for the crash victims. They have not started looking for flight data recorders so far. More than 250 people took part in the search on Friday.

The Indonesian president’s spokesman said that the Indonesian government would investigate the SSJ100 crash jointly with Russia. In his words, the Transport Ministry and the Transport Security Committee would form a joint team with Russia to find out the causes of the accident. Russia will be completely transparent in that investigation, he stressed.