CAIRO, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Intelligence officials believe a bomb was placed into the checked luggage hold of the Russia airliner that crashed in Egypt, prompting U.S. authorities to review passenger screening at overseas airports.
Multiple international airlines departing Egypt said only carry-on luggage would be permitted as more intelligence officials say they believe it was a bomb that downed Metrojet Flight 9268, killing all 224 people aboard.
Authorities in Britain believe someone with access to the cargo hold placed a bomb on the plane prior to takeoff at the Sharm El Sheikh International Airport. The plane was headed toward St. Petersburg, Russia, but came down in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Although U.S. airlines do not use Sharm el-Sheikh Airport and must fly above 26,000 feet over the Sinai Peninsula, the crash could expose security lapses in overseas airports where U.S. airlines operate.
“While it hasn’t been confirmed officially, there are intelligence reports that it is likely that this could have been a bomb placed on the airplane by [the Islamic State], and that is our grave concern at this point in time,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday.
Although a technical failure has not been ruled out as the cause, that explanation is beginning to seem more unlikely to authorities. Russia and Egypt said they will not speculate on the cause until the conclusion of the official investigation.
The Islamic State affiliate Sinai Province said they destroyed the plane but did not specify how. The militant Islamist group was previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis before pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Sinai Province has launched continued attacks since former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in 2013. The group claimed responsibility for an attack in the peninsula that killed about 30 people in January.
Russian flights have continued using the Sharm el-Sheikh Airport and British authorities are allowing flights back to Britain on Friday.
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