Relatives' agony at Sochi morgues

Many relatives wept as they heard the news

Stunned relatives have gathered outside two morgues in Sochi in Russia, where some of the 113 bodies from a doomed Armenian plane are being brought.

They have kept up an anguished vigil, rushing forward every time more bodies arrive on emergency vehicles.

"People want to know anything just now," Aryag Ghagosian, whose friend's brother was on the flight, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The Airbus A-320 from Yerevan to Sochi crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday.

Russian and Armenian officials said they believed there were no survivors after the Armavia jet plunged into the Black Sea while making a second attempt to land in bad weather.

At least 46 bodies were retrieved on Wednesday.

Desperation

"The women are all home crying, the men are all standing here waiting," a man standing outside one of the morgues told AP.

I've lost my sweetheart, my son! Aniat Bagusian In pictures: Armenia crash

"What else can we do?" said the man, who gave his name only as Misha.

He said his brother, sister-in-law and nephew were aboard the plane, but he did not know if their bodies were among those retrieved.

"They say they're identifying the bodies, but we're not learning anything," Misha said.

Another relative said he - together with his father - was seeking news of his mother.

"Mum called 10 minutes before the expected landing time to say the plane was about to land - she already had a phone signal," Akop Akopian told the AFP news agency.

"Ten minutes later the plane had disappeared from the radar screens," he said.

Dozens of tearful relatives also gathered at Sochi's Adler and Yerevan's Zvarnots airports, where officials had published the list of the passengers from the crashed plane.

"They are not telling us anything. All I know is that I have lost my children," a woman waiting at Adler told Russia's NTV television.

At Zvarnots, medics tried to calm down a woman, who had fainted several times.

"I've lost my sweetheart, my son!" the woman, Aniat Bagusian, was quoted as saying by the AP.