By Ahmed Abbas
Acting Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin met with Egyptian Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek in Cairo to discuss the investigation of the crashed Russian plane.
Both sides agreed to “organise the investigations details”, spokesperson of the Russian investigative committee told MENA news agency.
Russian Interfax news agency quoted anonymous sources in Cairo as saying that uncharacteristic sounds were heard in the black box recordings.
US media reported that US satellites recorded a heat flash before the plane crash, but there is no evidence it was a missile.
The Egyptian government will not comment on any statements on the plane crash until the investigation results are revealed, said cabinet spokesman Hossam El-Kawish.
“The joint team of investigators is now studying the evidence and proof – like the airliner’s debris and personal belongings of the passengers, and also the fragments of bodies found in that area,” the Russian news agency quoted El-Kawish as saying.
In his interview with The Telegraph, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi described the claims that the plane was brought down by a missile or a bomb as “unfounded speculation”. He also added that making further comments on the incident is “premature and not based on any proper facts”.
The operator of the plane, Metrojet, blamed “external factors” for the plane crash, saying neither human error nor technical failure could have been the cause.
The Metrojet Airbus A321 crashed in Sinai on Saturday while travelling from Sharm El-Sheikh to the Russian city of St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people aboard.
Meanwhile, another Russian airline company, Royal Flight, said Egyptian authorities prevented one of its planes from taking off Tuesday from Hurghada Airport, after discovering a technical problem. All the passengers were moved to a hotel until the problem is fixed. The company said another flight that was supposed to head to Hurghada was also postponed.
