Russian plane missing from radar crashes in Black Sea

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - A Tu-154 aircraft of the Russian Defense Ministry has crashed in the Black Sea after it disappeared from radar, regional emergency service said Sunday.

"The debris of the Tu-154 found in 1.5 km from Sochi coast," the service was quoted as saying by the country’s official TASS news agency.

With 91 people on board, the aircraft disappeared from radar shortly after leaving Russian city of Sochi, it said.

The aircraft was en route to Syria’s Latakia to take part in a New Year's concert.

Among the 91 people, 83 were passengers and eight were crew members, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The ministry confirmed that there were nine journalists along with musicians from the army.

The Kremlin's Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that President Vladimir Putin was informed about the incident.