Probe Into 2016 Russian Tu-154 Crash Near Sochi Rules Out Blast on Board

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - All data obtained during the investigation of the Tu-154 airplane crash near Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi last year completely rules out the version of an explosion on board the aircraft, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko has said.

"All obtained objective data makes it possible to completely exclude the version of a blast on board the aircraft," Petrenko said.

On December 25, 2016, a Russian Defense Ministry Tu-154 plane heading from Moscow to Syria crashed in the Black Sea shortly after refueling and taking off from Russia's southern city of Adler, near Sochi.

None of the 92 people, including eight crew members: 64 musicians of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine reporters, head of the Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity Elizaveta Glinka, and two federal civil servants, survived the disaster.

READ MORE: Doctor Liza's Fair Aid Charity Delivers Medicines, Nutrition for Syrian Children

Sochi residents bring flowers, candles to South Pier Square

© Sputnik / Nina Zotina

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Meanwhile, Sochi's authorities held a memorial service for the crash victims, during which several hundred city residents maintained a moment of silence, lighting candles and releasing flowers into the sea.