A Russian airliner, carrying 224 passengers and crew, has crashed in the Sinai peninsula killing everybody on board, according to Egyptian authorities.
The Airbus A321 departed from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bound for St. Petersburg, disappearing from radar 22 minutes after take-off.
Wreckage was found in the Hasna area – where the plane’s black box has also been located.
Egyptian officials said that of the 217 passengers on board, 214 were Russian and three Ukrainian.
The plane, which was operated by Russian airline Kolavia under the brand name Metrojet, is believed to have gone down due to technical failure.
Egyptian security sources said the plane split in two, with part of it catching fire and a larger section crashing into a rock.
The Russian Embassy in Cairo said it has been told by Egyptian officials that the pilot had been trying to make an emergency landing in el-Arish.
