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Russian rescuers join rescue operations at place of Superjet crash

The Russian airliner Sukhoi Superjet-100 suffered a disaster at the time of a demonstration flight on May 9

MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — Rescuers of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies joined rescue operations at the place of Superjet crash in Indonesia, Itar-Tass learnt at the ministry on Sunday.

“The personnel and machinery were relocated within one day to the area of the jetliner’s crash where a base camp was set up; rescuers joined search operations,” the ministry reported.

Earlier head of the ministry’s group and deputy director of the fire-fighting and rescue department of the ministry Mikhail Chupalenkov said that painstaking combing of the terrain is necessary at this stage of the search operation. “Russian rescuers will work by two groups in shifts,” he specified.

Speaking of possible difficulties, Chupalenkov said that the entire difficulty of work lies in the place of the disaster where it is difficult to come. “Weather conditions are difficult here too, since they are changing all the time,” the ministry’s representative added.

Some 70 specialists of the Ministry for Emergencies arrived in Indonesia from Moscow on Saturday by two planes to render aid in the search operation. The same planes brought two light helicopters Bo-105 and BK-117.

The Russian airliner Sukhoi Superjet-100 suffered a disaster at the time of a demonstration flight on May 9. According to available information, it had aboard 45 people, including eight Russians.

The bodies of the dead are now being evacuated from the place of the accident – the hardly accessible slope of Mt. Salak at an altitude of 1,700 metres.

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