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Probe Into Russian Military Plane Crash Delayed

The Russian military Tu-154 jet involved in the incident Press Office of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry / TASS

An investigation into the fatal crash of a military plane on Christmas Day last year will not be completed until the end of 2017, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

A report into the crash of the military Tu-154 airliner moments after it took off from the Black Sea city of Sochi on its way to Syria may not be finalized until Dec. 25, Interfax cited a source “familiar with the situation” as saying.

The Christmas Day crash claimed the lives of all 92 people on board, including 64 members of Russia’s celebrated military choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble and prominent Russian humanitarian Yelizaveta Glinka.

Interfax’s source said that some of the bodies were still missing.

Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier said it found no evidence that external circumstances caused the crash and that a piloting error may have been responsible.

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