WORLD
Russian passenger plane crashes in Egypt's Sinai
Baku, October 31, AZERTAC
A Russian plane carrying more than 200 people has crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, according to the Egyptian prime minister's office, according to Aljazeera.
A "Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai," the office of Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said in a statement on Saturday.
Russian media quoting aviation sources also reported that the plane had crashed.
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.
A senior aviation official told the AFP news agency it was a charter flight operated by a Russian company and had on board 217 passengers and seven crew members.
Sharm el-Sheikh is popular with Russian tourists.
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.