A Russian plane carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on 31 October shortly after losing radar contact at 31,000 feet.
The incident killed all aboard, almost all of whom were Russians.
Role of Islamic State?
An Egyptian militant group affiliated to Islamic State (IS) claimed to have brought down the plane “in response to Russian airstrikes that killed hundreds of Muslims on Syrian land”. However Russia’s transport minister said the IS claim “can’t be considered accurate”.
Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, launched air raids against opposition groups in Syria, including IS, on September 30.
The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet, was flying from the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it went down in Sinai. Sinai is considered as an area of militants close to IS.
However, initial examination suggested the crash could have been caused by a technical fault.
