The wreckage of a
Russian plane that took off from South Sinai's resort city Sharm
El-Sheikh was found near North Sinai's al-Arish city on Saturday
morning, the Egyptian Civil Aviation ministry said.
The plane carried 224 passengers and crew and was on its way to St. Petersburg in Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
Air traffic
controllers had lost contact with it minutes after it took off, aviation
sources told Aswat Masriya, disappearing from the radar 23 minutes
after take take-off at 5:51 am.
It was an Airbus A321 and was operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, also known as Kolavia.
The Egyptian
government has ordered sending 50 ambulances to the site of the crash to
transport the bodies of the deceased and to take those injured to
hospital. There have been no official statements yet on the number of
casualties.
Russian Ambassador
to Cairo Serge Kirpichenko told Aswat Masriya that he is in contact with
Egyptian authorities to find out the cause of the crash. He added that
he is following up with Egyptian officials on what can be done to
provide care for the injured and ship the bodies of the deceased back to
Russia.
Cabinet held an
urgent meeting to discuss the crash, with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail
scheduled to go to the site of the crash. It also formed a working
group, headed by Ismail, to follow up on the implications of the
incident.
The cause of the
plane crash remains unclear but security sources told Reuters that it
does not appear to have been shot down or blown up.
A source at the
Egyptian ministry of aviation said in press statements that the cause of
the crash cannot be determined except after an investigation is
complete, adding that the causes being cited in the media are only
"speculation".
A team from the air
crash investigation department at the ministry of civil aviation went
to the site of the crash to inspect it and recover the black boxes, the
source said. He added that Russian authorities have the right to
participate in the investigation.
Militancy inside
Egypt has seen a significant rise since the military ouster of Islamist
President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, following protests against his
rule, but most attacks target security forces in North Sinai.
The resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh is a favorite toursit destination especially among Russians.
Egypt is currently
trying to revive its tourism sector, which was a main source of income
until years of political turmoil, triggered by an uprising in 2011,
drove tourists away, taking its toll on the sector.
However, last
month, the tourism sector was hit with a setback when Egyptian security
forces mistakenly attacked a convoy of Mexican tourists in al-Wahat area
in the Western desert, believing they were terrorists. A dozen people
were killed in the incident, including eight Mexicans and four
Egyptians.
SOURCE: ALLAFRICA
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