Russian plane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai region, all 224 passengers killed

A relative of the victims of a Russian airliner with 217 passengers and seven crew aboard has crashed, reacts at Pulkovo airport in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, The Russian airline Kogalymavia’s Airbus A321 with a tail number of EI-ETJ on an airstrip of Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport, outside Moscow, Russia (AP Photo/Tatiana Belyakova)

A militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the downing of the plane, the group said in a statement circulated by supporters on Twitter (AP photo)

"I now see a tragic scene," an Egyptian security officer at the site told Reuters by telephone. "A lot of dead on the ground and many who died whilst strapped to their seats. (AP photo)

According to FlightRadar24, an authoritative Sweden-based flight tracking service, the aircraft was descending rapidly at about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) per minute before the signal was lost to air traffic control (AP photo)

The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet, was flying from the Sinai Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg in Russia when it went down in central Sinai soon after daybreak, the aviation ministry said (AP photo)