Mourners across Russia have been remembering some of the 71 people killed in the weekend's plane crash, in which a domestic airliner fell from the sky minutes after taking off. CCTV footage has revealed the terrifying moment the plane hit the ground. The wreckage is so bad that thousands of emergency workers continue to sift through snow, and have deployed drones to help them. Dan Ashby has the latest.

Its' the final seconds before an airliner carrying 71 people hits the ground. By then, it was already a ball of flames. Russia has now deployed drones to sift through this wreckage, in the hope of answering how and why. They say they are seeking pieces of DNA to identify the dead. But families already know the worst. Like Yekaterina and her young sister, who have lost their mother.

YEKATERINA ZAKLADNAYA VICTIM'S DAUGHTER "Till the very end yesterday we believed that at least someone would survive. We called the airports, barely managed to get through. And then they published the lists and mommy was second from the bottom of the list."

Seventeen year old Ilya Politayex was among those killed: a talented student with a passion for law.

VALENTINA STEPANOVA TEACHER "The children are of course crying. We held a first lesson with all of those in his class. Children are of course in tears. And his girlfriend too, she did not come to school."

The Government says that every family will receive 100 thousand dollars in compensation. But getting the answer might take a week.

MAXIM SOKOLOV TRANSPORT MINISTER "On the whole, about one thousand people and almost 200 vehicles were involved in the search and rescue operation. At the moment, according to the emergencies ministry report the operation has entered a search phase, which will last for about a week."

And across Russia, flowers are being laid and memorials opened.

DAN ASHBY MOSCOW "This country is now being forced to confront the awful details of what happened: the 5 year old who lost her mother, the aspiring law student whose life was cut short. They are stories repeated 71 times over, with the same outcome. Russia is now trying to make sure it is an outcome that never happens again. Dan Ashby, CGTN, Moscow."