Russia held a day of national mourning Sunday to remember the people who died on board the passenger jet. Across the country, people paused to remember those who died in the country's worst-ever air disaster.
Flags at half mast across the country by order of the Kremlin.
It's a show of support for these relatives of the 217 people who never came home from holiday, Gathered at a hotel near the airport, they can only wait for more information.
In the meantime, they've been offered counselling...and medical help by the authorities?even as the flowers pile up outside Pulkovo Airport.
As the relatives wait for updates, Kogalym Avia insists its aircraft was fit to fly, and the pilot highly experienced. But the Russian emergencies ministry says it's grounded the company's Airbus jets. And it's beginning the work of bringing home the bodies of those who died.
It's been a day of mourning across the country here in Russia - not just in St. Petersburg, where most of the victims came from, but also here in the capital Moscow - these are the St. Petersburg government offices in Moscow, and people have been coming all day to lay flowers and candles.
Young and old wanted to pay respect to those who died.
There were more candles lit at church services in Moscow, held to mourn the the 213 Russians, 3 Ukrainians and 1 Belorussian who died.
But the authorities here say it's still too early to tell whether it was pilot error, a technical fault or some other external factor that killed them.
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