Relatives react at Pulkovo international airport in St. petersburg, Russia, after a Russian plane crashed in a mountainous part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, 2015. A Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed on Saturday in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian prime minister's office said. The plane vanished from radar after taking off from the Red Sea Resort Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported. (Xinhua)
CAIRO, Oct. 31, (Xinhua) -- A Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed on Saturday in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian prime minister's office said.
The plane, carrying 217 passengers along with seven crew members, vanished from radar after taking off from the Red Sea Resort Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported, quoting a statement from the prime minister's office.
The Airbus A-321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, took off at 5:51 a.m. (0351 GMT) and disappeared from radar 23 minutes after it took off, the report said, adding that most of the passengers are Russian nationals.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sherif Ismail has ordered the formation of emergency operation room to investigate the crash.
The state-run Ahram online news website reported that the crash was caused by a "technical failure."
The crash of the Russian plane was due to a "technical failure" and was not shot down, Ayman Al-Mokadem who is heading a committee to monitor the event was quoted by Ahram as saying.
"The pilot sensed a technical failure and reported to the aviation authorities that he wanted to land at the nearest airport," the report said.
An aviation team is on their way to extract the black boxes to determine the reason for the crash and at least 45 ambulances have been sent to the site, according to a statement of the prime minister's office.
