Pope offers condolences to families of Russian plane crash victims

Published: 2006-07-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences to the families of more than 120 people, including dozens of children, who died July 9 when their flight from Moscow to Irkutsk, Siberia, veered off a runway, crashed and burst into flames after landing. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, conveyed the pope's prayers in a July 9 telegram sent to civil and religious authorities in Irkutsk. The pope "expresses his spiritual closeness to the families struck by this sorrowful event and, while he raises fervent prayers to the Lord of life for the eternal rest of the deceased, he invokes consolation from heaven for those who mourn the loss of their dear ones," the telegram said. Russian authorities said 204 people were on board the flight, which hit a concrete wall, crashed into a building and burst into flames after landing at Irkutsk.

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