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Egypt says no survivors from Russian plane crash Egypt says no survivors from Russian plane crash
(about 2 hours later)
A Russian plane carrying more than 200 passengers from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has crashed in central Sinai, killing all of those on board, Egyptian officials have said. More than 200 passengers and crew aboard a Russian airliner flying from the popular tourist resort Sharm el-Sheikh have died after it crashed in the Sinai desert.
Related: Russian passenger plane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai - liveRelated: Russian passenger plane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai - live
The jet, operated by the Russian company Kogalymavia and branded as Metrojet, had initially been reported as being “completely destroyed with all on board likely to have died”, according to a security officer from the search and rescue team. The flight, operated by Metrojet and bound for St Petersburg, lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes after departure. Its wreckage was found about 100km (60 miles) south of the north Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said.
Several Egyptian military and security officials later told AP there were no survivors. A source had said earlier that voices of trapped passengers could be heard from a section of the plane, but no survivors had actually been identified. A north Sinai security source said a technical fault was the initial explanation for the crash, adding that the plane had landed in a “vertical fashion”.
Destined for St Petersburg, the plane was carrying 224 people, including 17 children and seven crew members. The first rescue workers at the scene described the plane as “completely destroyed” and an Egyptian security officer told Reuters that many passengers had died strapped in to their seats.
“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,” an anonymous officer told Reuters. “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,” he said.
Egypt’s health ministry had dispatched 45 ambulances to the scene to “evacuate the dead and wounded” which had indicated the possibility of survivors. The Russian embassy in Cairo said it had been told by Egyptian officials the pilot had been trying to make an emergency landing at El-Arish.
The crash site was found on Saturday morning in southern Arish, a mountainous area of central Sinai, but poor weather conditions were making it difficult for some rescue crews to reach the scene, the security officer said. Conflicting reports had earlier emerged, with suggestions that there had been some survivors after voices were heard in the wreckage of the plane’s cabin. Egyptian search and rescue officials said later that all 224 on board, including 17 children, had died.
Northern Sinai is home to groups of Islamist militants, many affiliated to Islamic State, but there were no indications the plane was shot down, Egyptian security sources told Reuters. Airbus said the A321-200 that crashed was 18 years old, had made almost 21,000 flights and accrued about 56,000 flight hours. It had been operated by the Russian airline since 2012.
A statement from the Egyptian prime minister’s office said Sherif Ismail formed a cabinet-level crisis committee to deal with the crash, which was believed to have been caused by a mechanical failure. The prime minister has since departed for the crash site with several cabinet ministers on a private jet, the tourism ministry said. Kogalymavia, which owns Metrojet, said there were “no grounds” to blame the incident on human error. Russian state media reported that the crew had complained to officials earlier this week about the state of the plane, claiming it should not be flown due to technical issues.
“This aircraft appealed to the technical service in connection with engine start failure several times over the past week before this,” a source told the RIA agency.
Distraught relatives gathered throughout Saturday at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, where the flight had been due to land at 12.10pm local time.
Viktoria Sevryukova, 24, was one of the names on a passenger list published by Russia’s Association of Tour Operators. She had posted photographs of herself relaxing on the beach during her holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Sevryukova’s friend, Yevgenia Beryozina, told the Guardian she felt “emptiness” and still could not believe the news. “She was my best friend – she had waited for this trip like I don’t know what,” Beryozina said. “And now she’s gone. Just like that, she’s gone.”
Beryozina described Sevryukova as “positive, smart and sociable” and that “everything was just starting to work out” in her life. “It’s just not fair.”
Ella Smirnova, a 25-year-old, said she was due to meet her parents who were on board the flight. “I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news. I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again,” she said.
The plane, which had a tail number of EI-ETJ, lost contact 23 minutes after takeoff while flying at more than 30,000 feet above sea level, according to the plane tracker website Flight Radar. It had begun to make a steep descent at a rate of 6,000 feet per minute shortly before communications were lost.
Looping playback of #7K9268. Last data recorded at 04:13:22 UTC https://t.co/RlcJTpDHwI pic.twitter.com/fb2aDxPUBwLooping playback of #7K9268. Last data recorded at 04:13:22 UTC https://t.co/RlcJTpDHwI pic.twitter.com/fb2aDxPUBw
The plane, which had a tail number of EI-ETJ, lost contact 23 minutes after takeoff while flying at more than 30,000 ft above sea level, according to the plane tracker website Flight Radar. It had begun to make a steep descent at a rate of 6,000 feet per minute shortly before communications were lost. Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said flight 7K9268 failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control and disappeared from the radar.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, said flight 7K9268 had left at 03:51 GMT and was due into St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport at 12:10, it told TASS news agency. The plane had failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control and disappeared from the radar. Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the families of victims of the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the families of victims of the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt, Russian news agencies reported. Putin also ordered government ministries to offer immediate assistance to relatives of those killed. The last major commercial plane crash in Egypt happened in 2004, when a Flash Airlines Boeing 737 plunged into the Red Sea after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is a popular destination for Russian tourists and it is believed the majority of those on board were Russians. Distraught friends and family began arriving at St Petersburg airport on Saturday. The 148 people on board that flight, most of whom were French, were killed.
“I am meeting my parents,” said 25-year-old Ella Smirnova. “I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news. I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again.” Millions of people, many of them Russian, visit the resort – one of Egypt’s major tourist draws – every year.