IS shoots down Russian airline

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 to God,” the statement circulated on Twitter said.

Earlier on Saturday, Egyptian security sources said initial investigations suggested the plane crashed due to a technical fault.

The Russian Airbus aircraft carrying 224 people, mostly tourists, crashed in a mountainous region in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday killing all on board.

Egyptian security officials confirmed there were no survivors from among the 217 passengers and seven crew members on board the aircraft.

All passengers and crew were Russian citizens, said Adel Mahgoub, chairman of Egypt’s civilian airport regulator.

Egyptian air traffic control had lost contact with the Airbus A321 23 minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh for St Petersburg early on Saturday. Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail’s office confirmed that a Russian civilian plane crashed in central Sinai. Flight KGL9268 belonged to Kogalymavia airline, a small airline based in Western Siberia.

A criminal case has been opened against the airline for “violation of rules of flight and preparation for them,” Russia’s Ria news agency reported.