Details are beginning to emerge about the passengers on board the Russian jet which crashed in Egypt's Sinai region - as grieving families wait for loved ones to be repatriated.
Most of the 217 passengers on board were Russians returning from a holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh, and 25 of them were children. They, along with seven crew members, were killed when the plane came down.
Photographs have surfaced of one of the families aboard Flight 9268.
Iurii Shein was travelling with his wife, Olga, along with their young daughter Anastasiia.
Other tourists included Viktoria Sevryukova - a 24-year-old who had been incredibly excited for her trip to the Egyptian resort.
"She was my best friend. And now she's gone. Just like that, she's gone," Yevgenia Beryozina told The Observer.
Also on board were newlyweds Elena Rodina and Alexander Krotov, both aged 33.
Their friend Yulia Zaitseva said she had tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Ms Rodina from travelling to Egypt, asking her: "Why the hell do you want to go to Egypt?"
She explained: "We were friends for 20 years. She was a very good friend who was ready to give everything to other people. To lose such a friend is like having your hand cut off."
Friends and relatives of the passengers waiting at the plane's destination of Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg have been taken to a hotel to grieve together.
Russian media reported that among those grieving were two young men who had befriended two girls who were among the casualties.
They told LifeNews they have now decided to help the girls' families, adding: "We became friends at the resort, stayed at the same hotel... It's so difficult to realise what has happened."
Also among the passengers was a couple from St Petersburg celebrating their first wedding anniversary, having travelled to Egypt to mark the occasion.
A friend said she had only heard from the wife the day before the flight, adding: "(She) said they had a great time on holiday, that the weather was very nice.
"She also sent some pictures, the two of them looking so young and beautiful."
The Russian social media account of another woman reported to have been on the flight showed a man and toddler, believed to be her husband and their child standing at the foot of the plane's stairs as they boarded.
The photo's caption read: "Hello St. Petersburg, farewell Egypt. We are flying home."
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