Russian plane crash:
Live updates as
passenger jet
carrying 224 people
crashes in Egypt
The Kogalymavia passenger plane, flying from
Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia, was last heard from
shortly after taking off
NEWS WORLD NEWS KOGALYMAVIA RUSSIAN PLANE CRASH
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A civilian passenger plane carrying 224 people
has crashed in Egypt.
The airliner took off from the Red Sea resort of
Sharm el-Sheik this morning, and was heading
for St Petersburg Russia.
The plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists.
KEY EVENTS SO FAR
7 HOURS AGO 150 bodies found over 3 mile radius
7 HOURS AGO 'Plane crashed due to technical fault'
8 HOURS AGO 'No survivors' in the crash
9 HOURS AGO Criminal investigation now launched against...
10 HOURS AGO '100 bodies taken out of plane'
SAM WEBB
Video of crash site
This footage shows the scene where the Russian
airliner came down earlier today.
Investigators are seen inspecting the wreckage
of the crash, in which 224 people lost their lives,
including 17 children.
The cause of the crash is not yet clear but
Egyptian officials have said technical failure is
likely to be the problem.
20:48
Egyptian television footage
shows Russian airliner crash
site
SAM WEBB
No evidence of terrorist
action
The cause of the crash is most likely to be
equipment failure and there is no evidence of any
terrorist missile attacks, Egyptian Airports Co.
chief Adel Al-Mahjoob told CNN Arabic tonight.
He added that a routine check on the the Airbus
A321 showed everything was OK.
Earlier, ISIS’ Egyptian affiliate claimed it had
downed the jet, but numerous officials have
rubbished that claim.
20:15
SAM WEBB
Plane did not request
change of route
Mohamed Hossam Kemal, Egypt’scivil aviation
minister, told a news conference that
communications between the plane and air traffic
control before the crash had been normal and
that nothing irregular had occurred before the
accident.
“The plane did not request a change of route,” he
said.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail also told
the news conference that there did not appear to
be any unusual activity behind the crash but the
facts would not be clear until further
investigations had been carried out.
Posted by: Philip Ochika