SOCHI, Oct 8: Distraught families of the victims of the Black Sea plane crash accused the Russian authorities on Monday of trying to cover up the causes of a mid-air explosion that has been linked to a misfired Ukrainian missile.

Around 100 relatives of the Israeli victims gathered in a hotel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi to be briefed on the possible causes and legal consequences of Thursday’s tragedy.

Russia initially blamed a terrorist attack for the blast on the Sibir Tupolev airliner around 180 kilometres south of Sochi which cost the lives of at least 76 people.

But Ukraine sent a top-level delegation to Sochi Monday after persistent reports that an S-200 ground-to-air missile could have accidentally shot down the plane during military exercises in the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine’s President Leonid Kuchma refused to rule out the possibility that a Ukrainian missile was responsible for the tragedy.

“It is technically impossible” that a missile hit the plane, but “everything is possible theoretically,” Kuchma told journalists in Kiev.

“We are interested in learning the truth as never before, no matter what the truth might be.”

Defence Minister Olexander Kuzmuk has vehemently dismissed the missile theory, and General Volodymir Tkachov, head of the air defence corps, said on Monday that “all the data shows that Ukraine is not implicated in this catastrophe.”

US authorities have said they believe a Ukrainian missile was involved in the blast on the Sibir flight from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk.

In Sochi, angry relatives turned on Russian officials, accusing them of “doing nothing” to solve the mystery of the crash, or “not giving straight answers” or even “lying.”

“We have done nothing but listen to a lot of hot air since we have arrived here,” one female relative cried in rage.

“Will you finally tell us what caused the catastrophe? On television, they say they found pieces of a missile in the plane,” a man demanded, referring to reports that “foreign parts” had been recovered among the wreckage.

“The Americans say they have seen the missile. But you hide the truth from us, who have the right to know what truly happened,” an elderly mourner said.

Alexander Saltanov, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, sought to calm tempers at the meeting by explaining that experts and crash investigators were still searching the wreckage for clues.

“Until the investigation is completed, I cannot tell you whether it was a missile or something else, or whether the plane was blown up from the inside or the outside,” Saltanov added.

Some Israeli relatives berated Sibir airline’s management for its reluctance to pay their expenses in Sochi beyond Wednesday, even though the investigation could drag on for much longer.

“You can stay here after October 10 if you want, but that will have to be at your own expense,” Sibir boss Vladislav Filev told the relatives.—AFP