.The aircraft was reported missing 23 minutes after leaving the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with 224 on board
- .The doomed jet was owned by an Irish company and leased to a Russian airline carrying tourists to St Petersburg
- .Egyptian air crash investigators said the pilot had warned of a 'technical problem' shortly before the disaster
- .The jet was plunging at more than 6,000 feet per minute as the pilot tried to land at el-Arish airport in northern Egypt
Egyptian security forces have heard voices inside the wrecked fuselage of a Russian passenger jet which crashed into the Sinai desert in northern Egypt as the bodies of 100 victims have been recovered.
The aircraft, which had 200 adult passengers, 17 children and seven crew crashed less than 25 minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The bodies of all 17 children on board have been recovered
The Irish-owned aircraft was leased by a Russian airline. It crashed in the Hassana area, south of Arish. Security forces discovered the crash wreckage in a remote mountainous area in a region containing many ISIS-affiliated terrorists.
The doomed Airbus A321, pictured earlier this month in Moscow was reported missing soon after it took off from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, officials claimed the pilot warned of a technical problem before the disaster and asked to land at the nearest available airport
Grieving friends relatives have begun arriving at St Petersburg airport awaiting further news about the disaster from airline officials
Latest reports suggest that some people may have survived the crash although 100 bodies have been recovered by Egyptian authorities
Ayman al-Mugadem of the Aviation Incidents Committee said the pilot warned air traffic controllers that aircraft had developed 'a technical problem' and he needed to land as soon as possible.
According to radar data, the aircraft was descending at more than 6,000 feet per minute shortly before the impact.
The head of Egypt's civil aviation authority, Mahmud al-Zinati. said there were 'many dead' including 17 children.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered his own team of experts to the crash site to determine the cause of the disaster. He has also declared a day of national mourning. He has already sent five aircraft to Egypt to assist with teh
The wreckage was found roughly 60 miles south of the North Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said.
'Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane... in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded,' a cabinet statement said.
One official at the scene said: 'I now see a tragic scene. A lot of dead on the ground and many died whilst strapped to their seats. The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part that crashed into a rock. We have extracted at least 100 bodies and the rest are still inside.'
Officials and the state MENA news agency later said the 'casualties' were being transferred to nearby hospitals.
The Egyptian Aviation Ministry said there were 63 men and 138 women on board.
At Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, anxious family members awaited news of their loved ones.
Ella Smirnova, 25, said: 'I am meeting my parents. I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news."
'I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again.'
Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced that he is sending his own team of crash investigators to the scene of the disaster
As well as launching his own investigation, President Putin has announced that tomorrow will be a national day of morning in Russia
A senior Egyptian aviation official said the plane was a charter flight operated by a Russian company carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members.
The official said the plane was flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet when communication was lost.
A senior official in Egypt air traffic control said that the pilot told him in their last communication that he was having trouble with the plane's radio system.
Russian aviation official Sergei Lzvolsky told Interfax news agency that the Kogalymavia Russian airline had departed Sharm el-Sheikh at 5:51 am local time.
He said the Airbus 321 did not make contact as expected with air traffic controllers in Cyprus.
Reports suggest the pilot was attempting an emergency landing at El-Arish international Airport.
The aircraft took off from Sharm el-Sheikh at 3.51GMT and was due to land in St Petersburg at 09:12GMT.
The Russian Investigative Committee has launched its own probe and is looking for possible 'violations of flight safety procedures'.
Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top investigative body, has opened an investigation into the crash of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt's Sinai peninsula for possible violations of flight safety procedures.
Committee spokesman Sergei Markin made the announcement in a statement Saturday.
The plane had been chartered by a Russian tourism company and run by Kogalymavia, which now operates under the name Metrojet.
Egyptian authorities confirmed that 'casualties' were being evacuated to local hospitals. A total of 45 ambulances have been sent to the scene.
The aircraft is believed to have broken into two sections after the jet crashed. Early reports said that the bodies of five children have been recovered, still strapped to their seats.
According to Flight Radar 24, the jet was plunging at 5,760 feet per minute at 30,000 feet when it lost contact with air traffic controllers.
Reports suggest the pilot had warned air traffic controllers of a technical issue on board the aircraft.
Weather conditions were said to be poor at the time of the crash.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences with the families of those people on board the tragic jet. He has ordered his own crash investigators to the scene to probe the cause of the disaster.
Egyptian security officials have found the wreckage in a remote mountainous region which has large numbers of ISIS-affiliated terrorists, although they are not thought to possess any weapons which could hit a passenger jet at its 35,000 feet cruising altitude.
However, airlines have been warned not to drop below 24,000 feet in the area due to the threat of 'dedicated anti-aircraft weapons'.
Egypt's top prosecutor ordered an investigation into the cause of the disaster.
The aircraft took off from Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea and was on a flight to St Petersburg in Northern Russia when it crashed
The aircraft went missing some 23 minutes after take off in a remote region in northern Sinai, pictured, according to local authorities
According to flight data trackers, the aircraft plunged rapidly and lost speed before it lost radar contact
Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek ordered the formation of a team tasked with going to the site of the crash and investigating the debris.
Russian media claimed that pilots on the doomed jet had complained earlier this week about engine problems and it is reported they may have sought to divert the aircraft before it plunged to the earth.
Egyptian security officials confirmed that there are unlikely to be any survivors following the accident.
The plane went down in a mountainous area in central Sinai and poor weather conditions have made it difficult for rescue crews to get to the scene, the officer said. Survivors and bodies of those on board will be flown to Cairo, the security source said.
According to Russian news agencies, the aircraft was an Airbus A-321 operated by Kogalymavia Aircraft.
Egyptian prime minister Sharif Ismail, pictured, has formed an emergency committee to deal with the crash
The aircraft is believed to have crashed over the Sinai desert according to Egyptian authorities
The Egyptian prime minister Sharif Ismail said: 'Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai.'
His office confirmed that a cabinet level crisis committee has been established to deal with the crisis.
It is understood that the aircraft had just taken off on a four-hour flight to St Petersburg when it went missing shortly after take off.
The Airbus A321-231 is believed to have been manufactured in 1997 and is owned by a Dublin-based company.
Egypt's ministry of civil aviation says it lost contact with a Russian aircraft carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members over the Sinai peninsula, according to Egypt's state-run news agency.
The flight took off from Sinai's Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular destination for Russian tourists, at 5.51am local time and disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes after take-off, a statement carried by the MENA agency said.
Egyptian emergency authorities have sent 45 ambulances to the scene to help with the rescue efforts.
There were no indications the aircraft was shot down, according to Egyptian security sources.
However, the area the aircraft crashed in Egypt's North Sinai is home to a two-year-old Islamist insurgency and militants affiliated to ISIS have killed hundreds of soldiers and police.
The aircraft went down in an area where pilots are warned against flying at less than 24,000 feet because of the danger of 'dedicated anti-aircraft weapons'.
Air crash investigators are currently on their way to the scene, but their work will be made more difficult by the inhospitable terrain and the presence of ISIS-affiliated terrorists.
The probe is being headed by Ayman Al-Mokadem according to Ahram.org. He said the pilot had requested a diversion before the crash for a 'technical failure'.
He claimed the pilot had asked for the nearest airport and may have been heading to Al-Arish in northern Sinai.
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