MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) - Specialists taking part in the search operation are finishing to recover the body fragments and the bodies of those killed in the December 25 crash of the Russian Defense Ministry's Tupolev Tu-154 airplane near Sochi, a source in emergency services told Interfax on Thursday.
"Tentatively, the bodies of 20 people and the remains of almost all of the victims have been lifted to the surface. A DNA test will be required in order to identify the majority of the victims of the tragedy," the source said.
Military aviation experts have started to decode information from the plane's two flight data recorders, while the decoding of the third 'black box' will begin in the afternoon on Thursday, he said.
"The tape from the third recorder was subject to mechanical exposure and exposure to seawater. However, the main information can be received from it," he said.
The two other 'black boxes' are in good condition.
"Tentatively, information that has been received from them tells about the circumstances of the catastrophe and indirectly points to a combination of factors that potentially could have led to the catastrophe," the source said.
Interfax has so far been unable to obtain official confirmation of the report.