SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — The latest on the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt that killed all 224 people onboard. (All times local.)
11:05 a.m.
The head of Russia’s federal tourism agency says Russians leaving Egypt will be allowed to take only cabin baggage with them and their other luggage will be delivered later.
Tourism chief Oleg Safonov did not specify the reason Saturday for the luggage restriction, but it appears to reflect concerns about security at Egypt’s airports. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday halted flights to Egypt from Russia, due to security concerns.
U.S. and British officials think the Russian Metrojet plane that left the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct. 31 may have been blown up by a bomb. Aviation experts say the luggage restrictions that security authorities are putting into place in that Red Sea resort now appear to reflect a desire to not open planes’ luggage holds.
Safonov also said, according to Russian news agencies, that a revised count shows 80,000 Russians currently in Egypt — 79,000 of them in the resort areas of Hurgada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Metrojet crash in the Sinai killed 224 on board, most of them Russian tourists.
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10:45 a.m.
The British government and the tourist agency Thompson say a plane carrying British tourists to Sharm el-Sheikh in August came within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of a rocket, according to reports.
The near-miss involving a Thomson jet carrying 189 passengers happened on August 23, about two months before a Russian plane crashed in Sinai, Egypt, on Oct. 31, killing 224 people.
The British Department for Transport said its investigation concluded it was not a “targeted attack,” while Thomson said there was “no cause for concern” for further flights.
A government spokesman said: “We concluded that it was not a targeted attack and was likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time.”
A Thomson spokesman said the British government conducted a full investigation and “after reviewing the details of the case, the investigation concluded that there was no cause for concern and it was safe to continue our flying program to Sharm-el Sheikh.”
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9:50 a.m.
President Vladimir Putin has canceled all Russian flights to Egypt until aviation security is improved there, but some Russians apparently did not hear the news.
Travelers intending to go to Egypt on vacation showed up Saturday morning at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, unaware that their flights had been cancelled. Some were disappointed, but appeared to be trying to take the news in stride.
Tourist Vyacheslav Kuznetsov said “if there is a reason to cancel, then it’s better not to fly.”
A Metrojet Airbus A321-200 crashed 23 minutes after takeoff from the Sharm el-Sheikh airport in Egypt on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists. U.S. and British officials think the plane may have been blown up by a bomb.
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