Egypt plane crash: Russia says act of terror brought down flight
Russia’s Security Chief Alexander Bortnikov says an act of terror brought down the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board. Traces of foreign explosives were found on debris from the Airbus plane, FSB Chief Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin vowed to find and punish those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of so-called Islamic State said it downed the plane. Nearly all the dead were Russians. Mr Bortnikov said a bomb had been planted on board the Metrojet plane, equivalent to up to 1 kg of TNT.
Mr Putin vowed to “find and punish” those behind the attack over the Sinai peninsula. A branch of so-called Islamic State said it downed the plane. Nearly all the dead were Russians.
The bomb shattered the plane mid-air on 31 October, he said, “which explains the wide dispersal of fuselage pieces”. Mr Putin said that Russia must hunt those responsible “indefinitely, find out who the individuals were”. “We’ll look for them everywhere, wherever they are hiding. We’ll find them in any corner of the planet and punish them.”
Russia has offered a $50m (£33m) reward for information on the Sinai plane attackers. Sinai Province, a branch of Islamic State (IS), said in a statement on 31 October that it had destroyed the plane because of Russian air strikes in Syria. 