Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that there were no Australians amongst the 224 travellers killed in a plane crash over the weekend.
A Russian A321 was travelling from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in south Sinai bound to Saint Petersburg when it crashed into the mountainous area of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula late Saturday.
According to DFAT, there were 214 Russians, three Ukrainians and seven crew on board. Twenty five of the 224 are believed to have been children.
Reports say the plane lost contact with traffic control around 23 minutes into the flight.
Investigators have begun looking into the contents of the black box, the onboard recorder, which was found and transported to Cairo yesterday.
A day of mourning in Russia after 224 are killed in plane crash https://t.co/uGeTYcEE5W pic.twitter.com/nPlBBpAR7m
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 1, 2015
Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee Executive Director, Viktor Sorochenko, said that based on debris, investigators have determined that the aircraft’s fuselage disintegrated in the air. Research will have to answer why this occurred.
In the meantime, an Islamic State affiliated organisation is believed to have claimed responsibility for the downing of the plane.
“Disintegration of the fuselage took place in the air, and the fragments are scattered around a large area (about 20 square kilometers).”
Viktor Sorochenko, Interstate Aviation Committee Executive Director
Russia’s top aviation official says passenger jet broke up at high altitude: https://t.co/JKFJhirz1T pic.twitter.com/8cmlnfqOsG — David Koenig (@airlinewriter) November 1, 2015
Commercial airlines have started diverting aircraft away from Sinai until further notice. Among them is Emirates, which redirected flights onto another route. Lufthansa and Air France have taken the same action along with Air Arabia and flydubai.
Qantas currently doesn’t fly over Sinai.