Russian girl, age 10, flies without ticket or ID

Moscow: Russian transport police say a ten-year-old girl flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg without identification or a ticket.

The incident that transport police reported on Wednesday raises questions about security at Russian airports.

The girl, whose identity was not revealed, left home for school on Tuesday and did not return.

Alexander Rzhanenkov of the St. Petersburg city hall told Russian news agencies the girl went to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport where she mingled with a crowd boarding a flight to St. Petersburg. The official said she boarded the plane together with a large family with children. Police picked her up at St. Petersburg’s airport where she was wandering unaccompanied.

Children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said on Wednesday the girl’s trip sends “a serious alert sign” about airport security.