Russia Halts Flights Into Egypt Amid Reports That Bomb Brought Down Flight
Russian president Vladimir Putin has suspended all flights into Egypt amid reports that the flight recorder from Metrojet Flight 9268 contains data that “strongly favors” theories that a bomb brought down the passenger jet.
France 2 TV, an affiliate of Sky News and CNN, spoke to an investigator with access to the black box who claimed an explosion can be heard just before the recording ends. The AFP and BBC have similar reports, with the AFP citing a source who says the data indicates “a very sudden explosive decompression,” and the BBC quoting a source who said there’s intercepted “chatter” that confirms the bombing.
The flight data and voice recorders showed “everything was normal” until both failed at 24 minutes after takeoff from the Sharm el-Sheikh resort Saturday, pointing to “a very sudden explosive decompression,” one source said.
The Islamic State group claimed it down the plane, providing no details, saying it was retaliation for Russian air strikes in Syria.
The data “strongly favours” the theory a bomb on board brought down the plane, the source added.
Earlier today, Putin halted all Russian flights into Egypt, leaving an estimated 50,000 Russian tourists temporarily stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh. The U.K. has also suspended flights into the country, with an estimated 19,000 British tourists remaining in the resort town, according to the BBC.
The St. Petersburg-bound Metrojet flight crashed Saturday just 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the blast, though no evidence has been presented by the group to support their claims.
