Russian Passenger Plane with 224 Passengers Crashes in Egypt

A Russian passenger plane with 224 people on board crashed on Saturday, November 9, in the Sinai Desert in Egypt. Reuters reports, citing Egyptian security sources, that initial investigations indicate a "technical failure" caused the crash. The Russian Minister of Transport has stated to reporters that reports suggesting a terrorist act are not credible. Egyptian security sources also say there is no evidence that the plane was shot at. The office of Sherif Ismail, the Prime Minister of Egypt, confirmed the crash and stated that the Russian plane fell in a central area of the Sinai Peninsula. A senior aviation official noted that the ill-fated aircraft was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members, with reports indicating that 17 of the passengers were children. According to Reuters, Egyptian officials say that none of the passengers survived the crash, and currently, the bodies of 15 passengers have been transferred to the morgue. The Russian embassy also confirmed on Saturday the deaths of all passengers on the plane. The aircraft took off at 5:51 AM local time from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, heading to St. Petersburg, Russia. The crashed plane is an Airbus A-321 belonging to the airline Kogalymavia. Russian officials, in an interview with the Interfax news agency, stated that the communication of this passenger plane with the control tower in Cyprus was lost after takeoff, and it disappeared from radar screens. Egyptian military aircraft have found debris and the black box of the crashed plane in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been dispatched to the region. An Egyptian security official present at the crash site stated that the fuselage of the plane was split in two and completely destroyed.