“The Russian Foreign Ministry maintains permanent contact with Egyptian authorities to work on the issues of cooperation and finding out the causes of the air crash, which includes [cooperation] in the context of sending the emergencies ministry aircraft and other competent services to the crash site,” the statement said.
The statement added that the Egyptian government had launched a search operation and sent aviation to the crash site.
Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov stated that the causes of Russian Kogalymavia airliner crash on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt will be known only after international investigation with Russia's broad participation.
"Anyway, we could speak about the causes [of the crash] only after all the information would be thoroughly analyzed and the international investigation will be conducted… The Russian side will certainly actively participate in this investigation," Sokolov said.
He added that the black boxes from the Airbus were still not found and said that the crashed plane had an airworthiness certificate.
Sokolov also confirmed that there were 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board.
Earlier in the day, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said that Russian A-320 airliner en route from Sharm El-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg disappeared from radar screens at 5:21 a.m. local time (03:21 GMT) 23 minutes after take-off. The Russian Transport Ministry confirmed that there were 224 people, including 7 crew members on board the crashed aircraft.
The causes of Russian Kogalymavia airliner crash on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt will be known only after international investigation with Russia's broad participation, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Saturday.
"Anyway, we could speak about the causes [of the crash] only after all the information would be thoroughly analyzed and the international investigation will be conducted… The Russian side will certainly actively participate in this investigation," Sokolov said.
