Russian plane crash victims' relatives gather to identify bodies

Hundreds of grief-stricken relatives of the 113 victims of a Black Sea plane crash gathered today outside morgues in two hotels in the southern Russian resort of Sochi, preparing for the grim task of identifying the dead.

Search-and-rescue boats still plied the waters offshore, searching for bodies and debris from the Armenian Airbus A-320 that plunged into the sea yesterday.

So far, 47 bodies have been transported to the port and taken to city morgues for identification.

Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said it was still too soon to speak of possible causes of the disaster.

“We are not considering any scenarios until we get a better understanding of the events that took place, and that will require deciphering of the black boxes,” he said.

French Airbus specialists joined Russian salvage workers today in searching for the remains of the plane.