Russia Tu-154 plane crash: State-run major bank clears all debts of victims

Russia's major bank, Sberbank has written off all the loans taken by Tu-154 plane crash victims, the Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said.

The Russian military plane, a Tu-154 jet, which crashed on Sunday had 92 people on board and was carrying 60 members of the Red Army choir, who were heading to Syria to entertain the Russian troops in the country for the New Year celebrations. Reports state that the plane went down, off the city of Sochi, into the Black Sea soon after it took off on Sunday.

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The minister said that the relatives of the crash victims will have to apply either through Sberbank or other offices assigned by the Defense and Labor Ministries to seek loan clearance. Sokolov said that he will ask other Russian banks to do the same for the crash victims.

The minister also said that Sberbank, in addition to writing off the loans will also provide compensation to the families of the victims during the New Year. "Some branches will work during the holidays to implement the payments, the work won't stop even after January 1," Sokolov added.

Reports state that VTB24 bank has also said that it will support the loved ones of the victims by giving extra compensation to them. Russia's Sogaz insurance company, earlier this week, had also announced that it will pay compensation amounts to the families of the military officers who died in the crash. Russia's Social Insurance Fund too has assured support to the victims' families.

The Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov during a televised briefing on Monday had said authorities do not believe the plane crash was an act of terrorism. They have also ruled out any explosion on the aircraft. However, investigators are yet to confirm the cause of the crash.

A spokesperson for the Sochi-based search and rescue branch of the emergency ministry, Rimma Chernova, said that it was confirmed that the parts found underwater were of the crashed Russian plane. "The debris is at a depth of 27 metres one mile from shore," spokeswoman Chernova told AFP.