Russian passenger plane crashes in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with 224 on board

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A Russian passenger plane has crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Airbus A-321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia was bound for St Petersburg and is reported to have had up to 224 people on board.

Egyptian reports say the wreckage of the plane was found in a desolate mountainous region of South Arish, Sinai, with several ambulances dispatched to the scene. Most of the passengers are said to be Russian tourists.

One rescue worker told Reuters that the plane had been completely destroyed and there were unlikely to be any survivors. It is not yet clear what caused the crash.

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has reportedly formed a Cabinet-level crisis committee to deal with the incident. "A Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai," the Telegraph newspaper quoted a statement from his office as saying.

Flight tracking websites show the plane lost contact with radar over central Sinai, 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh.