More than 200 passengers and crew aboard a Russian airliner flying from the popular tourist resort Sharm el-Sheikh have died after it crashed in the Sinai desert.
The flight, operated by Metrojet and bound for St Petersburg, lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes after departure. Its wreckage was found about 100km (60 miles) south of the north Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said.
A north Sinai security source said a technical fault was the initial explanation for the crash, adding that the plane landed in a "vertical fashion".
The first rescue workers at the scene described the plane as "completely destroyed" and an Egyptian security officer told Reuters that many passengers had died strapped in 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," he said.
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