12:09
Russian passengers plane 7K9268 has crashed in Sinai. A Russian plane carrying more than 200 people has crashed in Egypt's Sinai
Peninsula, according to the Egyptian prime minister's office.
Egyptian
air traffic control lost contact with the civilian airliner shortly after it
took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to head to the Russian city
of St Petersburg. Sharm el-Sheikh is popular with Russian tourists.
The
plane which is an Airbus 321 was operated by the small Russian airline
Kogalymavia also known as Metro Jet, based in western Siberia. Latest reports
say it was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew.
There
were conflicting reports about the fate of the plane, some suggesting it had
disappeared over Cyprus.
Initial
reports were conflicting, as the chief of Egypt's state Aviation Accidents
Commission, Ayman al-Moqdam, said the plane was safe in Turkish air space.
Security sources in the Sinai
Peninsula later confirmed reports that an aircraft was missing.
