The plane is reported to be carrying between 212 and 224 passengers. Picture: Wikipedia.
A RUSSIAN passenger plane carrying more than 200 people has crashed in Egypt after losing contact with air traffic control.
A “Russian civilian plane … crashed in the central Sinai,” the office of Egyptian prime minister Sharif Ismail said in a statement.
A senior aviation official said it was a charter flight operated by a Russian company and had on board 217 passengers and seven crew members.
The A321 aircraft was operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia.
Communication with the aircraft was lost shortly after the airliner took off from the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh, Egyptian aviation officials said.
The flight is believed to have been mostly carrying Russian tourists.
Following reports the flight had lost contact, Egypt’s chief aviation official said “an agent for the Russian company operating the aircraft has told us that the plane is safe and is now flying through Turkish airspace”.
Conflicting details of the plane and status of its passengers continue to emerge.
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