The Airbus A-321 was flying from the coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia when it went down in a desolate mountainous area of central Sinai, the aviation ministry said.
Egyptian authorities said rescue teams had located the wreckage in the Hassana area, south of Arish, and that ambulances were rushed to the scene.
A security officer at the scene told REUTERS news agency that the plane was completely destroyed and that most passengers were likely to have died.
A senior aviation official said the charter flight was operated by Russian company Kogalymavia – also known as Kolavia – and had on board 217 passengers, including 17 children, and seven crew members.
Russian and Egyptian officials are yet to confirm the passengers' identities, but most are believed to be Russian tourists.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the crash.
Egyptian air traffic control lost contact with the airliner shortly after it took off at 3.51am GMT.
The aircraft reportedly failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar.
Egyptian security sources said there was no indication that the plane had been shot down. Islamist militants are active in parts of Sinai.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)
france24.com
31/10/15
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Un avion russe ayant décollé de la station balnéaire égyptienne de Charm el-Cheikh à destination de Saint-Pétersbourg a disparu des écrans radars samedi.....
ReplyDelete11h37 Le président français a contacté son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine après l'annonce du crash.
"J'ai immédiatement adressé au président Poutine les condoléances de la France après cette tragédie", a déclaré François Hollande à la presse à son arrivée au Mont-Saint-Michel pour une visite.
"Je tenais avant même cette visite à pouvoir exprimer notre solidarité au peuple russe après cette catastrophe", a-t-il ajouté.
11h33 L'Airbus-321 transportait uniquement des citoyens russes, annonce Euronews citant les autorités égyptiennes.
11h24 Les corps d'une centaine de personnes ont été découverts sur les lieux de la tragédie, ont annoncé les sauveteurs cités par les agences occidentales.
"L'avion est divisé en deux parties. Nous avons sorti au moins 100 corps, il y a d'autres victimes qui sont encore dedans", a annoncé le représentant du service de secours egyptien cité par l'Agence France-Presse.
11h21 "Tous les documents sur l'état de l'avion, le combustible, et les passagers ont été collectés et transmis à la commission d'enquête", a fait savoir une source de l'aéroport de Charm el-Cheikh citée par la presse égyptienne.
11h16 La justice russe lance des poursuites pénales pour "violation des règles de vol et de la préparation au vol" suite à la tragédie, a annoncé le Comité d’enquête de Russie..................Lire la suite: http://fr.sputniknews.com/france/20151031/1019217216.html#ixzz3q8pOBwvT
Most passengers feared dead after Russian plane crashed in Egypt...
ReplyDelete......The security officer at the scene told Reuters by telephone that search and rescue teams heard voices in a section of the plane.
"I now see a tragic scene. A lot of dead on the ground and many who died whilst strapped to their seats," the officer, who requested anonymity, said.
"The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part that crashed into a rock.
"We have extracted at least 100 bodies and the rest are still inside."
Egyptian security sources said there was no indication that the Airbus jet had been shot down or blown up.............http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1031/738678-egypt-plane-crash/