All 224
people aboard a Russian airliner were killed early Saturday when the
Airbus A-321 crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula shortly after
takeoff from a popular Red Sea resort town.
The
Metrojet flight, carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members, was on
route from Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg when it dropped off radar
screens 23 minutes into the flight.It is believed to be the deadliest air
accident in the history of Russian aviation.
Egyptian
officials said the 7-person crew and 214 of the passengers and all
of the crew were Russian and that three of the passengers were
Ukrainian. The victims included 17 children, aged 2 to 17, according
to Russian authorities.