MOSCOW, May 14 (Itar-Tass) — Hard weather conditions complicate the use of aircraft in the search operation at the Superjet crash site in Indonesia, the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's information department, Irina Andrianova, told Itar-Tass.
Fog and heavy cloudiness remain in the area, complicating the work of small aircraft to take the remains of the victims and parts of the airliner from the crash site, she said.
The search work is continuing. Russian specialists have joined the Indonesian rescuers, she said.
The Russian specialists have skills to operate in mountains and have appropriate equipment to work under hard conditions. It is known that the liner crashed in mountains, into a cliff, and the terrain and weather conditions are very difficult there, she noted.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry's psychologists also work at Jakarta airport. They take care of the victims' relatives and friends, including employees of the Sukhoi company, who also are in heavy psychological condition.
On May 12, about 70 specialists of the Russian Tsentrospas rescue centre and the Emergencies Ministry's Leader centre for special operations arrived by two planes in Indonesia from Moscow. The planes also delivered two light Bo-105 and BK-117 helicopters.
The Russian airliner Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed when it was on a sales-promotional flight in Indonesia on May 9. Aboard the liner were 45 people, including eight Russians, and also citizens of Indonesia, France and the United States. The operation is continuing to recover the bodies of the victims from the site, the hard-accessible slope of Mount Salak at a height of 1.5 km.
Two Russian reporters suffering over-fatigue were evacuated by helicopters from the mountain on Monday, an Indonesian army officer said.
As was reported, two people felt unwell at the area of the search operation. The people are reporters from Russia who gave coverage of the operation, the officer said.
The reporters had asked for permission to climb the mountain, but they got exhausted on the way and could not continue moving to the site. They were evacuated by two Puma helicopters to the helicopter ground near the school in Sijeruk in Bogor.
According to some sources, the Russian reporters were not the first who felt unwell on Mount Salak. On Saturday, their two colleagues were found by rescuers on the mountain. The reporters lost their way when trying to find a spring to take water. They were exhausted and suffered from dehydration.