Investigation launched into Sinai plane crash, children among killed

Russian and Egyptian investigators are working to establish the cause of the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula that killed all 224 people on board, including 25 children and seven crew members.

The passengers included a 10-month-old baby girl, as well as her two siblings aged two and three. Numerous other children aged under 11 also perished in the disaster. The victims' bodies were spread over a three-mile radius, according to reports. 

The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet, crashed 23 flights into its flight from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia when it went down in central Sinai soon after daybreak, the aviation ministry said.

Egypt’s prime minister said a technical fault was the most likely cause of the crash, dismissing earlier claims from Islamic State militants that they were responsible. Egypt's civil aviation minister Hossam Kamal said there had been no sign of any problems on board the flight, contradicting earlier reports that the pilot had asked to make an emergency landing.

An Egyptian official had previously said that before the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers, the pilot had said the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and he intended to try to land at the nearest airport.

Earlier, a militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt, Sinai Province, said in a statement it had brought down the plane “in response to Russian airstrikes that killed hundreds of Muslims on Syrian land”, but Russia's Transport Minister told Interfax news agency the claim “can't be considered accurate”.

Mohamed Samir, Egypt’s army spokesman, also disputed the claim. “They can put out whatever statements they want but there is no proof at this point that terrorists were responsible for this plane crash. We will know the true reasons when the Civil Aviation Authority in coordination with Russian authorities completes its investigation. But the army sees no authenticity to the claims.”

Several radical Islamist groups have called for attacks on Russian targets since it began airstrikes on Isis forces in Syria in late September, but experts were sceptical that militants had weapons able to reach the plane, which was flying at an altitude of more than 30,000ft.

However, three airlines - Emirates, Air France and Lufthansa - have decided not to fly over the Sinai Peninsula as a precaution until more information is available.

The plane’s black boxes have been found and sent for analysis, officials said.

Investigators said they were checking fuel samples from the last refuelling stop, in the Russian city of Samara, and have focused on the possibility that a technical failure could have caused the 18-year-old plane to crash.

A spokesman said investigators were questioning people who were involved in preparing the aircraft and its crew and were carrying out searches at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport where the airline that operated the plane was based.

Kogalymavia, which is also known as Metrojet, was quoted by news agency Ria Novosti as saying that there were “no grounds” to blame the tragedy on human error. Captain Valery Nemov, 48, had 3,682 hours of flight time and had learned to fly the A321 at a training centre in Turkey in 2008.

Various reports suggested that a mechanical problem could have played a role. Security sources said an initial examination of the crash site showed the plane went down due to a technical fault, Reuters reported. Ria Novosti quoted a source in Sharm el-Sheikh airport as saying that the crew of the A321 appealed to the airport’s technicians due to “engine start failures several times over the past week”.

Meanwhile a Russian team has arrived at the crash site to join efforts to recover bodies, Russian media say. Egyptian officials had said 213 of the passengers were Russian and four were Ukrainian, but Russian officials said at least one of the victims was from Belarus.

More than 140 bodies have so far been recovered and taken to Cairo.

A criminal case had been opened against Kogalymavia for “violation of rules of flight and preparation for them”, Russia's Ria news agency reported.