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Bodies of journalists murdered in CAR brought to Moscow

The plane landed at Sheremetyevo Airport at 00:21 Moscow time

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. The bodies of the Russian journalists who were killed in the Central African Republic have been brought to Russia on flight 1144 Air France. The plane landed at Sheremetyevo Airport at 00:21 Moscow time (GMT +3), the FlightAware web portal reported.

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Probe indicates that Russian journalists in CAR were attacked by robbers, says diplomat

Maxim Shevchenko, a friend of one of the deceased, Orkhan Dzhemal, told TASS earlier that the bodies would be taken from Paris on Air France evening flight and the plane would arrive to Moscow right after midnight. The bodies will be taken to the mortuary in the morning, he said.

"The bodies will not be given to us immediately for burial; they will be given to the investigators," Shevchenko said. He also informed that the Russian Investigative Committee will need at least two days for the expertise

Orkhan Dzhemal will be buried on August 8, according to preliminary information, Shevchenko added. The lying-in-state ceremony will be held in Moscow Cathedral Mosque.

On July 31, the Russian Embassy in the Central African Republic reported the murder of three people near the town of Sibut, north of the CAR capital Bangui. The Russian Foreign Ministry later reported that journalist passes for Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguev and Orkhan Dzhemal were found with the bodies that were discovered on July 30. They had been registered as tourists and had worked on a documentary in the republic.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday, citing the first results of the investigation, that "the Russians were attacked by unidentified persons with a goal of robbery and were killed while attempting to offer resistance.".

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