CAIRO // Egypt pushed back on Saturday against international suspicions that a bomb caused a Russian plane to crash in the Sinai, killing 224 people, as investigators said its cause was still unknown.
Initial observations from the cockpit voice recorder on the Airbus A321 were made public amid intensifying restrictions on air travel that threatened to cripple Egypt’s vital tourism industry.
In the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, from where the airliner took off on October 31, thousands of Russian and British tourists waited for word of when they could fly home.
In Cairo, the Egyptian head of the technical investigation committee told reporters the cause of the crash was still not known.
“Initial observations do not allow for identifying the origin of the in-flight break-up” of the aircraft 23 minutes and 14 seconds after it departed Sharm El Sheikh, Ayman El Mokkadem said. “A noise was heard in the last second” of the cockpit voice recorder data.
“A spectral analysis will be carried out to identify the nature of this sound.”
On Friday, Moscow halted all Russian flights to Egypt, while London has stopped British flights to Sharm. Empty aircraft are being sent out to bring stranded holidaymakers home but the process will be slow. Russia will send 44 planes to repatriate its nationals, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said. Eleven British aircraft are on standby in Cyprus to help in the airlift.
Sources in France close to the investigation said black box data pointed to a bomb exploding.
David Cameron, the British prime minister, has said a bomb “had more likely than not” been the cause of the disaster.
Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday that the inquiry had yet to establish any firm theory.
And he said foreign intelligence that had triggered the international travel restrictions had not been shared with Cairo.
“We expected that any technical information should have been shared with us, at a technical level, before publicising it in the media,” he said.
Egypt is heavily reliant on tourism and feared the effect on the industry of any firm determination that a bomb caused the crash.
Russians comprise the bulk of tourists who visit Red Sea resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh each year. Nearly 80,000 are in Egypt, a Russian official said.
Russia followed Britain in saying that holidaymakers would return home without hold luggage, which would be sent separately.
That restriction has prompted Egypt to limit the number of daily repatriation flights because it said there is only so much baggage left behind that its airports can accommodate.
“It’s going to be a long wait,” said tourist Maria Chernova.
“I have to fly out today at any cost. My son is getting married tomorrow,” said Jane Kelly.
The extremist group ISIL said it downed the plane in retaliation for Russian air strikes in Syria but has not said how.
* Agence France-Presse
