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Mourning events to be held in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don to honor plane crash victims

State flags of Russia, flags of the region and municipalities will be flown at half-mast across the region

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

ROSTOV-ON-DON, March 20. /TASS/. Mourning events will be held in Russia’s southern Rostov region on Sunday in memory of the victims of Saturday’s passenger jet crash, a source in the regional government has told TASS.

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On Saturday, at 3:42 am Moscow Time (0.42 am UTC), FlyDubai’s Boeing 737-800 crashed at Rostov-on-Don’s airport during a second attempt to land in adverse weather conditions (strong side wind and rain). The plane served regular Flight FZ 981 from Dubai. The passenger jet with capacity for 189 passengers had 62 people aboard. None has survived.

"Sunday is announced a day of mourning in the region. State flags of Russia, flags of the region and municipalities will be flown at half-mast across the region. An event dedicated to the memory of the victims will be held outside the international terminal of the Rostov airport," a representative of the regional government said.

The event will be attended by members of the government commission to investigate the causes of the disaster, which includes Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Rostov region Governor Vasily Golubev. They will lay flowers in front of the terminal and take part in a minute of silence. About 500 representatives of various youth organizations are planning to hold a mourning event with laying flowers at the same place later.

"Cultural institutions, TV and radio broadcasting stations located in the Rostov region have been proposed to cancel all entertainment events and programs on the day of mourning," a representative of the regional government said.

According to Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov, rescuers are planning to fully complete the search operation at the crash site by 9 am Moscow Time.

Russia’s Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov earlier said that relatives of the victims would receive compensations from the Russian regions where they lived. Compensations from the regional budgets will amount to 1 million rubles. They will be paid by the Rostov and Vologda regions, Krasnodar territory and Moscow.

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