Egypt, Russia: No Proof Explosion Brought Down Sinai Plane

Egyptian and Russian officials said they have no evidence that the Airbus passenger plane that crashed in Sinai last week was brought down by an explosion, saying it’s too soon to reach the conclusion attributed to authorities in France.

French officials familiar with the investigation into the Russian airliner crash said a “violent, sudden” explosion caused the crash of the Metrojet Airbus A321, which killed 224 people, the BBC reported.

But a Russian member of the commission probing the incident said it was still too early to determine the nature of certain noises recorded before the crash, according to the Russian news agency Tass. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Saturday that while his country “hasn’t ruled out anything,” the cause of the crash remains unknown, pending the completion of the investigation.

Evidence from intelligence sources suggests that a bomb placed aboard the plane by Islamic State militants brought it down as it was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg on Oct. 31, according to U.K. and U.S. officials. President Vladimir Putin on Friday halted all Russian flights to Egypt.