Investigators ’90 Percent Sure’ Noise On Black Box Was A Bomb

He did not elaborate on the sound on the recording and emphasized that all possibilities were being considered, including an explosion of a lithium battery in a passenger’s luggage or engine fatigue. Most of the victims were Russian.

Now ISIS claims its Egyptian wing, Wilayat Sinai, was behind the devastating plane crash and it carried out the attack in revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria. The way the plane’s debris was scattered over a wide area indicated the Airbus broke up in mid-air, but why that happened needs nothing less than a thorough and exhaustive investigation.

They were overheard celebrating moments after the explosion that blew the plane apart, killing all 224 on board. Several European countries, including Britain, also briefly suspended flights to the country.

Egyptian authorities have been trying to whip up support for a war on terror after the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian security forces in Sinai said they brought it down. The statement did not describe the event, but said an investigation “concluded there was no cause for concern” and it was safe to fly into Sharm el-Sheikh. “We were expecting that the technical information would be provided to us”. Those sensitivities were on display Sunday as foreign camera crews were prevented from filming inside the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, along the city’s main tourist strip in Naama Bay, or in other public spaces.

That restriction has prompted Egypt to limit the number of daily repatriation flights because it says there is only so much baggage left behind its airports can accommodate.

He spoke of security guards checking under vehicles with mirrors, but claims that they did not check auto boots or speak to passengers.

According to a Reuters report, investigators are now “90% sure that a bomb brought down the Russian Metrojet passenger plane in Egypt”.

Russians comprise the bulk of tourists who visit Red Sea resorts such as Sharm el-Sheikh each year, and almost 80,000 are now in Egypt, a Russian official told AFP.

Maya Lomidze, acting director of the Russian Association of Tour Operators, said authorities were sending 93 empty planes to Egypt on Saturday and Sunday to bring tourists home.

Thousands of mostly Russian and British tourists are stranded at Sharm el-Sheikh airport, where the Airbus A321 took off for St Petersburg before crashing 23 minutes into the flight. Many complained about a lack of information from travel agents and airlines, but seemed to accept tight security measures.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told news agencies the decision to restrict flights did not mean Moscow believed that the crash – the worst aviation disaster in Russia’s history – was due to an attack.

“The spread of terrorism, which we have for a long time called on our partners to tackle more seriously, did not get through to numerous parties which are now exposed and which are currently working for the interests of their citizens to face this danger”, he told a news conference.

At least a dozen flights were scheduled to depart Monday afternoon from the Sharm el-Sheikh global Airport to Moscow and various airports in Britain.