A Russian passenger plane carrying 217 passengers and 7 crew members has crashed in central Sinai, as confirmed by the office of Egypt’s prime minister.
The Airbus A-321 took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.
“Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane… in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded,” a cabinet statement said.
The plane is believed to be carrying mainly Russian tourists.
The plane was earlier thought to have disappeared over Cyprus. But the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail confirmed in a statement that a “Russian civilian plane… crashed in the central Sinai”.
The Russian aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, said in a statement that flight 7K 9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 06:51 Moscow time (03:51 GMT) and had been due into St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport at 12:10.
The authority added that the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off.
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