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Egypt’s Islamic State group affiliate has allegedly reiterated its claim to have downed a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula last week, killing all 224 people on board.
Russia’s emergency situations top officials arrive for a conference call with representatives of Egypt and St. Petersburg led by Russia’s emergency situations minister Vladimir Puchkov to discuss the plane crash in Egypt, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. The Russian emergency situations ministry said that a total of 140 bodies and more than 100 body parts were delivered to St. Petersburg on two government planes on Monday and Tuesday and that a third plane is expected to bring more remains later on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
In an audio recording circulated among militant supporters online Wednesday, a speaker said the crash coincided with the anniversary of the group’s pledge of allegiance to the IS group. The dates of the crash and the pledge roughly coincide according to the Islamic calendar.
Experts say the militants lack the sophisticated arms needed to shoot down a plane at cruising altitude. The speaker did not say how the militants brought down the jet.
The AP could not independently verify the recording but it resembled previous statements issued by the group. The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites, picked up the recording and circulated a translation.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said an earlier IS claim was “propaganda” aimed at damaging Egypt’s image.
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4:35 p.m.
Authorities are making another attempt to evaluate information from the voice recorder of the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt, after damage to the device prevented an earlier try.
Germout Freitag, spokesman for the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, said the plane’s flight data recorder had been analyzed Tuesday though results had not yet been reported.
He says the plane’s cockpit voice recorder could not be immediately evaluated because of damage to it, but investigators were working on it again Wednesday.
Two Germans are helping with the investigation because the aircraft was manufactured in Germany, while French experts were involved because the plane was designed in France.
All 224 people on board the plane died when it crashed Saturday into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
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10:30 a.m.
A Russian official says families have identified the bodies of 33 victims killed in Saturday’s plane crash over Egypt.
The Russian jet crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Most of them were holidaymakers from Russia’s St. Petersburg.
Igor Albin, deputy governor of St. Petersburg, said in a televised conference call that as of Wednesday morning families have identified 33 bodies.
Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said rescue teams in Egypt have expanded the search area to 40 square kilometers (15 square miles).
Russian officials have refrained from announcing the cause of the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.
The Kremlin guards pass flowers and toys laid at the memorial stone with the word Leningrad (St. Petersburg) at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Moscow’s Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. Mourners have been coming to St. Petersburg’s airport and other places since Saturday with flowers, pictures of the victims, stuffed animals and paper planes. Metrojet¿s Airbus A321-200 en route from Egypt¿s Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 on board. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
A woman lights a candle at an entrance of Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia during a day of national mourning for the victims of Saturday’s plane crash over Egypt Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. A Russian official says families have identified the bodies of 33 victims killed in the disaster. The Russian jet crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Most of them were holidaymakers from Russia’s St. Petersburg. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
A couple stands next to flowers and toys at an entrance of Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, during a day of national mourning for the victims of Saturday’s plane crash over Egypt Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. A Russian official says families have identified the bodies of 33 victims killed in the disaster. The Russian jet crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Most of them were holidaymakers from Russia’s St. Petersburg. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
