Cairo - The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the crash of a Russian plane on Saturday in Egypt’s Sinai, which killed more than 200 people on board.
In a statement posted online, the Sinai-based group "Sinai State" announced loyalty to the IS and that its militants managed to target the Russian plane and killed all its passengers.
It said the attack was revenge for Russia's military operations in Syria.
A video released by the group showed that a plane suddenly caught fire and fell down, but the video cannot be verified at the moment.
Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said military planes have spotted the wreckage of the Russian plane in central Sinai with 224 passengers and crew members on board.
Meanwhile, a statement released by the Russian embassy in Cairo said the plane carried 212 passengers and seven crew members, all of whom were killed in the crash.
The aviation ministry said the wreckage was found in Hassana, a mountainous area 35km south of Arish city.
About 50 ambulances were deployed to transfer the casualties, in coordination with the armed forces, the ministry said, adding that most of the passengers were Russian nationals.
Security forces in the region are searching for the black box.
The plane vanished from radar shortly after take-off from the Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh on its way back to the Russian city of St Petersburg, Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported.
The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia took off at 5.51am and disappeared from radar 23 minutes after taking off.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has ordered the formation of an emergency operations room to investigate the crash.
The Russian Emergency Ministry also formed a team to follow up the investigation. - SAnews.gov.za –Xinhua
