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Black box of crashed Russian plane found, dead bodies arrive in Cairo morgue

Source: Xinhua | November 1, 2015, Sunday | Online Edition

THE black box of the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai earlier on Saturday has been found and 129 bodies have been picked up, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said at a press conference.

The plane crashed in North Sinai province and all its passengers, over 200 mostly Russians, died in the tragic accident.

Ismail told reporters that around 50 ambulances hurried to the scene and that the dead bodies are currently being transferred to Zeinhom Morgue in the capital Cairo.

Earlier on Saturday, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said military planes have spotted the wreckage of the Russian plane that crashed in central Sinai, with 224 passengers and crew members on board.

The aviation ministry said the wreckage was found in Hassana, a mountainous area 35 km south of Arish city.

The Russian embassy in Cairo said the plane carried 212 passengers and seven crew members, all of whom were killed in the crash.

"Sinai State," a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the IS, has claimed responsibility for the crash, which is refuted by both the Egyptian and the Russian sides.

"Experts asserted that a plane flying that high technically cannot be shot down," the Egyptian prime minister answered one of the reporters, stressing there was nothing "irregular" behind the accident.

"The black box is what will determine the reason for the plane crash," Ismail added.

An Egyptian official also told state-run Ahram Online news website that the plane crashed due to a "technical failure" and it was not shot down.

The plane, which was on its way back to the Russian city of St. Petersburg, vanished from radar shortly after taking off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the cabinet said in a statement earlier on Saturday.

The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, took off at 5:58 a.m. local time (0358 GMT) and disappeared from radar 23 minutes later, the statement said.

Meanwhile, a number of the victims' bodies have arrived in the morgue in Cairo, and the Egyptian prime minister, the health minister and a delegation from the Russian embassy were there.

"We came in 15 ambulances carrying a total of 34 dead bodies that are completely damaged," Mahmoud, a 50-year-old driver of one of the ambulances, told Xinhua outside the morgue.

More ambulances have been arriving in Zeinhom Morgue after being transferred by military planes from Kabrit military airport in Suez to Almaza military airport in Cairo.

"There were dozens of ambulances in Kabrit airport surrounded by intensive work and tight security and they are leaving in groups to the morgue in Cairo," said Xinhua correspondent in Suez.

The Egyptian prime minister, who visited the Russian embassy after leaving the morgue, said that a specialized Russian team will arrive in Cairo Saturday evening to join the Egyptian one to probe into the issue.

In a phone call to Moscow, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi offered his condolences to his Russian counterpart ValdimirPutin and vowed utmost cooperation to investigate the deadly accident.

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