Reports from Egypt say that a Russian airliner has
crashed in central Sinai with about 217 passengers and
seven crew members on board.
Confirming this to the BBC was the office of Egypt’s prime
minister, which stated that the Airbus A-321 had just
taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on
its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.
Most of the passengers on the plane operated by the
Russian airline Kogalymavia, established in 1993, were
said to be Russian tourists.
According to CNN reports, 217 passengers and 7 crew
members were on board the crashed Russian plane. It was
also gathered that the Egyptian prime minister, Sharif
Ismail, is holding an emergency meeting with his ministers
and security officials over the incident.
The Egyptian authorities are having a difficult time getting
to the suspected crash site in a mountainous and isolated
area of Sinai.
The plane crashed just 23 minutes after it took off.
Latest reports say no fewer than 20 ambulances are
presently on their way to the crash site as rescue teams
struggle to gain access to the crashed aircraft.