Bomb may have caused Egypt plane crash, says UK and US

05 November 2015

Russian plane may have been downed by bomb

Officials from the UK and US say a bomb on board may have caused a Russian plane to crash in Egypt on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board.

On 4 November, the UK suspended flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, located on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, due to concerns an explosive device caused the aircraft to crash in the Sinai peninsula 45 minutes after it departed from Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egyptian and Russian investigators are currently analysing data from the flight data recorder to try and ascertain the cause of the crash. Cairo has ruled out claims by militants linked to the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis) that they brought down the plane. Russian investigators have said it is too early to say what caused the crash.

The Airbus A321 plane, operated by Kogalymavia – also known as Metrojet – was on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.

In addition to the UK’s decision to suspend flights to and from the Egyptian resort, Dubai’s Emirates, Air France and Germany’s Lufthansa have decided not to fly over Sinai until further information is available.

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