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MOSCOW, July 8 (AFP) - A Russian plane carrying the bodies of 33 of the victims of last week's mid-air collision between a Tupolev passenger plane and a Boeing cargo landed early Monday in Russia's Urals region coming from Germany, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

The Ilyushin Il-76 touched down in Ufa, the capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, the home region for many of those who died.

It had left the South German airport of Friedrichshafen, near the site of the disaster, late Sunday.

The bodies will be transported to Ufa's main square, where an office for the dead will be held, ITAR-TASS reported.

All 69 on board the Tupolev passenger aircraft died when it collided with a cargo plane on July 1. The two pilots of the Boeing were also killed.

Another flight to recover more bodies would probably be organized later, the Ilyushin's pilot told Russian television Sunday.

Around 50 of the passengers aboard the Tupolev were children travelling to Spain for a holiday when the plane collided with the Boeing 35,300 feet (10,590 metres) over the town of Uberlingen in southern Germany.

Wreckage from the collision has been scattered over an area of at least 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the point of impact.

The cause of the collision is still being investigated. - Nampa-AFP

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