Russian Plane Crash Leaves 224 Dead, ISIS Claims Responsibility But Moscow Says ‘Technical Difficulty’ To Blame
A Russian plane traveling from the Red Sea Resort in Egypt back to St. Petersburg crashed this morning killing all 224 people on board. There were no survivors in the horrific plane crash where officials say debris were spread over a three-mile radius. The plane allegedly experienced “technical difficulties” before plummeting at 6,000 feet-per-second into the Sinai Peninsula, breaking apart on impact. Though officials from both Moscow and Cairo are claiming the airplane crashed due to technical difficulties, it hasn’t stopped ISIS from taking credit for the deaths.
All 224 on board died in today’s Russian jetliner crash, Russian Embassy in Cairo said. https://t.co/m3KxbWvkyg pic.twitter.com/M0I63mvEZR
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 31, 2015
The Daily Mail reports that ISIS is claiming that they downed the Russian jet as it flew over Egypt, killing the 224 on board the plane. However, officials in Moscow and Cairo say that the terrorism claims are completely unfounded and the plane crashed from “technical difficulties” that the pilot informed air traffic control about just prior to the deadly crash.
The Russian jet was carrying vacationers from the Red Sea Resort in Egypt back to St. Petersburg following the passengers’ holiday. However, just 25 minutes after taking off, air traffic control lost contact with the jet. Images of the mangled wreckage is making its way into the media but it is images secured by ISIS that have many talking. The Islamic State claims that they are responsible for the downing of the large jet noting that the debris were found in a mountainous region south of Arish that contains numerous ISIS-affiliated groups.
The Islamic State claims that they downed the jet with Russian tourists as retaliation for Russia’s involvement in the Middle East. The group says that Russia is responsible for the death of many of their women and children; therefore, the downing of the Russian jet was in response to the deaths of their own.
“This operation came in response to raids by Russian planes that have caused the deaths of hundreds of Muslims on Syrian territory, most of them women and children.”
Despite the bold claims by the Islamic State terrorist group, the Prime Minister of Egypt, Sharif Ismail, says the claims are untrue and that the group is trying to take advantage of the unfortunate situation. Ismail has visited the crash site and claims that the pilot voiced concern to the air traffic controllers about a “technical difficulty” a few minutes before the crash. Ismail says that the black box from the Russian plane’s tail has been secured and will be thoroughly evaluated.
“Experts have affirmed that technically planes at this altitude cannot be shot down, and the black box will be the one that will reveal the reasons for the crash.”
The Russian transport minister agrees with Ismail’s assessment that the terrorist claims must be false.
“This information cannot be considered accurate. We are in close contact with our Egyptian colleagues and aviation authorities in the country. At present, they have no information that would confirm such insinuations.”
Officials responding to the scene claim that most of the bodies that have been found were burned as the jet was still carrying a full load of fuel. In all, 129 of the victims’ bodies have been recovered as nearly 50 ambulances responded to the scene following the horrific plane crash.
Information about the tourists killed in the Russian plane crash is slowly being released. However, it is known that of those killed, 200 were adults, 17 were children and seven were members of the flight crew.
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
