Russian plane carrying 224 passengers from Egypt to Russia crashes in Sinai, ISIS-affiliated group claims responsibility

An Airbus A-321 passenger jet of Russian airliner Kogalymavia carrying 224 passengers and crew crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday. The plane was carrying 214 Russian passengers and three Ukrainians, the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement. Out of the total 217 passengers, 138 were women, 62 men and 17 were children, the cabinet statement added.

A militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday, the group said in a statement circulated by supporters on Twitter.

Egyptian security sources earlier on Saturday said early investigations suggested the plane crashed due to a technical fault.

The claim of responsibility was also carried by the Aamaq website which acts as a semi official news agency for Islamic State.

"The fighters of the Islamic State were able to down a Russian plane over Sinai province that was carrying over 220 Russian crusaders. They were all killed, thanks be to God," the statement circulated on Twitter said.

All 224 people, including seven Russian crew, were killed in the crash. With 221 losses, Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared national day of mourning.

The Airbus A-321, operated with registration number KGL-9268, was flying from the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia when it went down in a desolate mountainous area of central Sinai soon after daybreak, the aviation ministry said.

It took off at 5:51 a.m. Cairo time (0351 GMT) and disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes later, Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.

The plane was completely destroyed and all those on board are likely to have died, the Egyptian security officer who arrived at the scene told Reuters by telephone. Another security officer later told Reuters that there are painful voices coming from the plane wreck and rescue teams are trying to reach them.

After delays caused by poor weather conditions, Egyptian search and rescue teams located the site of the crash in the Hassana area 35 km (22 miles) south of the Sinai Mediterranean coastal city of Al Arish, the aviation ministry statement said.

The plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) when it vanished from radar screens. The black box of the airplane was found by Egyptian rescue teams, and the reason of the crash is being investigated. Kogalymavia said on Saturday that it saw no grounds to blame human error for the crash of one of its airliners in Egypt, Russian news agencies reported. RIA and Interfax news agencies cited an airline spokeswoman saying that the pilot had 12,000 hours flying experience. She also said that the plane had been fully serviced. Russian authorities launched an investigation to the airline.

Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the company that runs Egypt's civilian airports, said the aircraft had successfully undergone technical checks while at Sharm el-Sheikh's airport. A technical committee from the company was headed to Sharm el-Sheikh to collect security camera footage of the plane while it sat at the airport, including operations to supply it with fuel and passenger meals as well security checks, he said.

The airline is also using the brands of Metrojet and Kolavia, and the crashed airplane was fitted with Metrojet livery. The 18.5 year old aircraft was previously used by Turkish airliner Onur Air, along with three other A-321's in Metrojet fleet.

Sinai-based militants who support ISIS have killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police and have also attacked Western targets in recent months.

Roughly three million Russian tourists, or nearly a third of all visitors in 2014, come to Egypt every year, mostly to Red Sea resorts in Sinai or in mainland Egypt.