Egypt’s independent investigation committee into the Metrojet flight 9268 crash has referred the case to the attorney general.
The committee said on March 17th that the decision was made after they received an official report from Russia suggesting that “criminal activity” was behind the deadly crash that killed all 224 people aboard.
The plane, heading to St. Petersburg, Russia, went down in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on 31st October last year.
Egyptian authorities have said for the first time that the Russian commercial jet that crashed on 31st October last year in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was deliberately downed by terrorists.
Metrojet flight 9268 was heading to St. Petersburg, Russia, when it went down, killing all 224 people on-board. Islamic State had immediately claimed the responsibility, and Moscow’s investigation report had also claimed that a bomb downed the plane. However, the local authorities previously rejected these claims and maintained that a technical fault caused the accident.
In a television speech on February 24th, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, “Has terrorism ended? No it has not, but it will if we unite. Whoever downed the Russian plane, what did he mean? He meant to hit tourism, and to hit relations with Russia.”
Sisi’s comments are the first official indication from Egypt that the plane was deliberately crashed.
In the wake of Metrojet flight 9268 crash, the Egyptian government has hired a London-based consultancy firm for auditing its airport security.
The firm ‘Control Risks’ will start by inspecting the airports in Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh.
According to Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal, “All Egyptian airports apply international standards in airport security… The air transport industry globally is facing several challenges… Airport security has risen to the top of these challenges, especially with the upsurge of terrorism in different parts of the world.”
Control Risks’ chief executive for Middle East and North Africa Andreas Carleton-Smith said, “There will be a comprehensive assessment, and this supports extensive work already undertaken in recent months by Egyptian and international government experts…We will be starting work directly to take forward this critical initiative.”