Roundup: Russia in mourning for airliner crash in Egypt

Russia held on Sunday a series of mourning events for victims of Saturday's crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt, which killed all the 224 people onboard.

Declaring Nov. 1 a national day of mourning for the plane crash, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on this day to lower national flags throughout the country and suggested that cultural institutions as well as television and radio stations cancel entertainment shows and events.

In Russia's second largest city St. Petersburg, remembrance activities were launched earlier in the day and would last for three days, with both Russia's national flag and St. Petersburg's city flag being lowered.

A special mourning zone has been set up at the city's Pulkovo airport, the destination for the ill-fated flight 7K9268. Despite continuous rain, people turned up at the airport, laying flowers and lighting candles to express their condolences for the victims and their families and friends.

"I have cried overnight. I felt extremely bad for my departed relatives. I hope they can feel my sadness," a mom with her daughter told Xinhua.

St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko told reporters that the city administration might make decisions on compensation for the victims' families on Monday. "We will compensate all the victims for the tragedy, no matter whether they are residents of our city or not," he said.

The Airbus A-321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, had 217 Russian passengers and seven crew members onboard when it crashed early Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after taking off from Egypt's Red Sea Resort Sharm el-Sheikh.

The black box of the crashed plane has been found, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said earlier at a press conference.

An investigation commission was set up with the order of Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, headed by Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov, the statement said.

The team also includes rescuers, doctors and representatives from the government's Investigative Committee and Health Ministry.

At least three aircraft are expected to take members of the commission to Egypt, with one already on its way to the crash site, the Tass news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the incident to check on the compliance of laws on flight operating safety.

Investigators would look into documentation and personnel involved in the activities, operations and maintenance of the Airbus A321 to clarify details of the criminal case on the plane crash, the Investigative Committee said in an online statement.

Video footages released by Sinai-based "Sinai State" purportedly showed that a plane suddenly caught on fire and fell down, but the video cannot be verified independently for now. Endit