Russian airliner crashes in Egypt: As it happened

A Russian airliner crashed on Saturday in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula. The civilian aircraft was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members.

31 October 2015

21:31 IST

Russian aviation regulator says no grounds yet to blame airliner crash on technical failure, mistake by crew or external action.

21:31 IST

Claim that terrorists caused Russian airlines crash in Egypt "can't be considered accurate", says Russian transport minister.

21:30 IST

The North Sinai prosecution office summoned air and ground traffic control officials for questioning over the incident, and ordered a technical team from the Civil Aviation Ministry to analyse the contents of the plane's black box, says state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram's website.

21:26 IST

Egypt prosecutor general to allow Russian government agency to participate in investigation of crashed Russian plane.

21:26 IST

Al-Sisi offered deep condolences and promised to create conditions for the widest possible participation of Russian specialists in the investigation into the cause of the crash, the Kremlin said.

21:25 IST

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has spoken on the phone with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt.

21:24 IST

Russian investigation committee says examining fuel samples from last refueling stop in Samara of airliner that crashed in Egypt.

19:55 IST

Islamic State group in Egypt claims it downed Russian airliner, reports news agency AFP. 

19:52 IST

Russian planes's Black box found, crew experienced technical difficulty: Reports.

18:03 IST

There are no survivors from Russian plane crash in Sinai, news agency AP quotes Egyptian officials as saying.

16:38 IST

Russsian President Vladimir Putin instructs Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to form a state commission to investigate the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt.

The President instructed the Prime Minister to form a state commission to investigate the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt

— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) October 31, 2015

16:11 IST

At least 100 bodies have been recovered from the Metrojet Flight crash site, reports say.

16:10 IST

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the emergency ministry to dispatch rescue teams to Egypt. 

"The head of state has given orders to send emergency ministry (teams) to Egypt immediately to work at the plane crash site," a statement reads.

A senior Egyptian aviation official says the plane was flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet when communication was lost.

16:00 IST

At least five children have been found dead from the wreckage of the plane. 17 children were travelling in the ill-fated plane.

More data from flight #7K9268 shows very big changes in vertical speed last 20 seconds. https://t.co/KNB0j26hba pic.twitter.com/AJNSiSQstZ

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 31, 2015

15:54 IST

Rescuers from the plane crash site say aircraft split in two, reports Russia Today. 

Voices heard from inside the Metrojet Flight 7K9268 wreckage, reports say.

15:22 IST

Egypt has started evacuating 'casualties' from site of Russian plane crash.

14:59 IST

Egypt's government has launched an emergency response after a Russian plane crashes in Sinai. 45 ambulances have been rushed to the crash site to evacuate dead and wounded

14:53 IST

Egyptian security sources tell Reuters that there was no indication that the Russian plane had been shot down. Notably, Islamist militants are active in parts of Sinai. Few days back, Egyptian Army and police forces killed 25 Islamist militants during clashes in north Sinai.

14:41 IST

Egypt Prime Minister Sharif Ismail confirms that the wreckage of Russian passenger plane has been found in Sinai.

14:39 IST

Reports say that the wreckage of the ill-fated Russian plane have been found in the desolate mountainous area of Southern Arish.

14:35 IST

A Russian airliner crashed today in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula, the office of the prime minister said in a statement.

The office of Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said in a statement tha a "Russian civilian plane... Crashed in the central Sinai." 

The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that Metrojet Flight 7K9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 6.51 am (local time) and was due into St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport at 12.10 pm.

The authority added that the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar.

14:34 IST

A Russian airliner carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members has gone missing over Egypt's Sinai peninsula and has possibly crashed, media reports said.

Earlier, in a conflicting report, news agency Reuters said that the Russian plane which was reported as missing earlier, has left Egyptian airspace safely.

"The ... Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now," Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the central air traffic accident authority in Egypt, said in a statement.