BBC Saturday, 6 October, 2001, 15:26 GMT 16:26 UK 'Foreign objects' in plane wreckage The wreckage is being examined in Sochi

The head of Russia's investigation into Thursday's plane crash in the Black Sea, has said that the recovered debris contains objects that could not have come from the aircraft itself.

"There are objects which have been found which were not related to a plane," said Vladimir Rushailo, who is the head of Russia's Security Council.

Investigators have confirmed their belief the disaster was caused by an explosion, which Washington says came from a stray missile from a Ukrainian military exercise.

Russia has asked the United States to provide documentary evidence of it being a missile that downed the plane.

Key to the investigation will be the black box flight data recorder, but it is believed to lie in at least 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) of water and poor weather is currently impeding the salvage effort.

Seventy-eight people, most of them Russian immigrants from Israel, died on the flight and 14 bodies have been recovered so far.

Forces from the Ukraine were conducting military exercises nearby at the time of the incident and on Friday Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said a missile could have shot the plane down.

Missile tracked

The plane exploded before falling into the sea and there has been speculation that it could have been the result of an act of terrorism or a catastrophic mechanical failure.

However, the US has been insisting that a stray Ukrainian surface-to-air missile was to blame.

The US tracked a missile during the Ukrainian military exercise with satellites that sense the heat of its launch, and officials said the time of the launch coincided with the disaster.

Scattered debris

The head of Russia's Security Council, Vladimir Rushailo, who is leading the investigation said debris was spread over a 20 km (12 mile) radius.

Mr Rushailo said Moscow had asked for Israeli and American help in recovering the plane's flight recorder.

Israeli experts are expected to join the investigation on Sunday.

He said the salvage effort was being complicated by bad weather, poor water visibility, high waves and strong currents that threaten to sweep key evidence away.

Working round the clock

Alexander Moskalyets, the deputy emergency situations minister, said that the salvage ships were working around the clock and that another vessel specialising in deep-sea work would join the effort on Saturday.

Recovered wreckage has been transferred to the airport at the southern resort of Sochi where experts are piecing it together to determine what caused the incident.

Grief-stricken relatives have been gathering in Sochi to identify the bodies of their relatives.

Valery Chekhovsky, a Russian from Novosibirsk, where the plane was headed, said he was looking for his wife Galina, 54, who had travelled to Israel to see their son.

"One body looked like it could be her. But judging by the ring it wasn't my wife," he said after visiting the morgue.

"They are in a terrible condition. Some have faces, some are just completely burnt, " he added.

See also:

05 Oct 01 | Europe Ukraine missile may have hit plane

05 Oct 01 | Europe Analysis: Solving the Black Sea mystery

05 Oct 01 | Europe Analysis: Terrorism or tragic accident?

05 Oct 01 | Europe Israeli airport's maximum security

05 Oct 01 | Europe Relatives' agony over Russian crash

05 Oct 01 | Europe Press split over Black Sea crash

05 Oct 01 | Europe How safe is the Tu-154?

05 Oct 01 | Europe Russia's shaky air safety record

05 Oct 01 | World Cup 2002 Fifa calls off Israel match

Internet links:

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Bird Publishing: Tupolev-154

Siberia Airlines

Ukraine Government

Russia Government

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