Over 250 Policemen Mobilized in Sochi Following Tu-154 Crash - Interior Ministry

The police forces in the Russian resort city of Sochi were mobilized after receiving the information about the Tu-154 aircraft disappearance from radars, the Russian Interior Ministry's administration for southern Krasnodar Territory said Sunday.

KRASNODAR (Sputnik) — According to the statement, over 250 policemen were mobilized and an operative command was established.

The Russian Defense Ministry's Tu-154 plane en route to Syria with 92 people on board crashed in the Black Sea shortly after refueling at an airport in the resort city of Adler, near Sochi. Most of the passengers were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who were traveling from Moscow to Hmeymim airbase in Syria to take part in New Year celebrations.

The list also includes Anton Gubankov, the chief of the Directorate of Culture of the Russian Defense Ministry, and prominent Russian humanitarian activist Elizaveta Glinka, the head of Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity. Russia's Channel One, NTV and Zvezda broadcaster have confirmed that their journalists were among the passengers of the aircraft.