Aussie victims of Cuba crash mourned

(AAP) Cuban authorities are not sure how long it will take to identify the 68 victims, including two Australian women, of the country's worst plane crash in two decades.

There were no survivors in Thursday's disaster and Sydney lawyer Barbara Crossin,
49, and her friend Jacqueline Cunningham, 47, from Brisbane, were listed among the
dead.
Ms Crossin's father, David Crossin, said the women had worked together as nurses and
had been friends for more than 20 years.
Her Canberra-based brother, Carl, said Ms Crossin loved to travel.
"She was warm, intelligent and very loving, had a quirky sense of humour and we are
devastated by this and will miss her terribly," he told ABC Radio.
The women left Australia on October 11 and had been holidaying in Chile and Mexico
before travelling to Cuba, where they took the doomed domestic flight.
A Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) spokeswoman on Sunday said the victims'
remains had been recovered from the crash site, reported as 400km east of Havana in
the mountainous Sancti Spiritus region.
"Cuban authorities have advised that all the remains and personal effects found at
the crash site have now been moved to Havana, where the formal identification
process will occur," she said.
"However, they have not provided a timeframe for how long the identification process
may take."
The Australian government extended its deepest condolences to the families of the
two women, the spokeswoman said.
"Consular officials are in contact with their families and will continue to provide
them with consular assistance," she said.
The Aero Caribbean flight had taken off from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba in
stormy weather.