Egypt to launch investigation into Russian plane crash

Published March 17th, 2016 - 03:00 GMT
Debris belonging to Flight KGL 9268, a Russian airliner, lie strewn across the desert at its crash site near Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on Nov. 1. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)
Debris belonging to Flight KGL 9268, a Russian airliner, lie strewn across the desert at its crash site near Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on Nov. 1. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

An official Russian report suggesting that “criminal activity” was behind the crash of a Metrojet that killed all 224 on board in November 2015 was referred to the Attorney-General by Egypt’s independent investigations committee, a statement from the committee said on Thursday. 

A Russian airliner crashed in Egypt's central Sinai on 31 October, killing all 217 passengers and seven crew members.

Egypt has opened an investigation into the causes of the crash, and allowed Russia to take part in the probe.

The Kremlin said on 17 November that a bomb had ripped apart the Russian passenger jet and promised to hunt down those responsible.

No official and final report by Egypt has been issued yet.