Summary

  • A Russian airliner crashed in central Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, on 31 October 2015

  • Flight KGL 9268 was carrying 214 Russian and three Ukrainian passengers

  • It was carrying mostly tourists from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia's St Petersburg

  • Militants linked to Islamic State say they brought down the Airbus A-321, but Russia has dismissed this claim

  • The plane is operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, also known as Metrojet

Live Reporting

Sarah Fowler, Aidan Lewis, Lucy Fleming, David Gritten and Nick Eardley

  1. Summing up day's events

    That wraps up our live coverage of the plane crash over North Sinai which killed all 224 passengers and crew on board. An investigation is under way into whether there was a technical fault, and the black box has been retrieved. Meanwhile, international experts have cast doubt on claims made by the Islamic State group that it was behind the disaster. Here's one of the first confirmed pictures of the destroyed aircraft. You can follow more updates on the story here. 

    Prime Minister"s office shows the tail of a Metrojet plane that crashed in Hassana Egypt, on 31 October 2015AP

  2. BA and easyJet to continue flights

    Following Air France and Lufthansa's decision to suspend flights over Sinai, British Airways and easyJet have now said that while their routes are regularly reviewed, they have no plans to alter their routes to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.

  3. DNA testing in Cairo

    Egyptian ministers have told a news conference that 129 bodies have been retrieved so far. Half of them were taken to a morgue in Cairo where forensic experts are performing DNA analysis before being flown back to Russia, reports the BBC's Ranyah Sabry in Cairo.

  4. Scene at Sharm el-Sheikh airport

    Passengers are queuing up to leave Sharm el-Sheikh airport, hours after the deadly crash in the Sinai Peninsula. The Red Sea resort is popular with Russian tourists - with the exception of three Ukrainians, all of the 224 passengers and crew were Russian. 

    Passengers line up to depart from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport hours after a Russian aircraft carrying 224 people, including 17 children, crashed about 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort popular with Russian tourists, in south Sinai, Egypt, on 31 October 2015AP

  5. Bodies taken to Cairo morgue

    As night time falls in Egypt, the bodies of some of the 224 people killed are brought to a morgue in Cairo. Among the victims are 17 children aged between 2 and 17. 

    Ambulances transporting the bodies of the victims of the Russian passenger flight crash arrive at the Zeinhom morgue, Cairo, Egypt, 31 October 2015.EPA

  6. Chance of survivors 'slim'

    Some lines coming in now from Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail, who says the chances of finding survivors are "slim". There was no irregular activity believed to be behind the crash and it will be impossible to determine a cause until the black box is examined, he adds - via Reuters.

  7. Psychologists brought in

    Psychologists are meeting with friends and relatives gathered at a hotel near St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, meanwhile police are busy keeping journalists away, AP reports.

    Relatives of victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt, mourns at a hotel near Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, 31 October 2015.Reuters

  8. History of aviation disasters

    There have been a number of high-profile aviation disasters in recent years, including the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine last year. This year, the co-pilot of Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed the aircraft in the French Alps, killing 148 people on board. Here's a timeline of aviation disasters over the past 17 years.

  9. Lufthansa, Air France 'avoiding Sinai'

    Two major airlines, Lufthansa and Air France, have decided to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula until they get a clear explanation of what caused Saturday's crash in the area, Reuters reports.

    "We took the decision to avoid the area because the situation and the reasons for the crash were not clear," a Lufthansa spokeswoman is quoted by the news agency as saying.

  10. 'Huge blow' to Egyptian tourism

    Russian tourists are very important to the Egyptian economy - one third of all tourists to Egypt, particularly the Sinai Peninsula, come from Russia. The high season here starts this month and it stretches all the way to April. This is quite a huge blow to the Egyptian tourism industry, which has already been suffering for the past five years, since the January 2011 revolution. Unfortunately it seems there's not going to be a big pick up this season either."

    Ranyah Sabry, Cairo, BBC

  11. Prayers for the dead

    One of the emergency workers prays, as they prepare to unload the bodies of the victims. 

    An Egyptian soldier prays as emergency workers prepare to unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula from a police helicopter to ambulances at Kabrit military airport, some 20 miles north of Suez, Egypt, on 31 October 2015.AP

  12. Bodies moved

    Egyptian emergency services are transporting the bodies to Cairo by military plane from Kabret military air base, near the Suez Canal.

    Egyptian paramedics load the corpses of Russian victims of a Russian passenger plane crash in the Sinai Peninsula, into a military plane at Kabret military air base by the Suez Canal on 31 October 2015.AFP

  13. 'First images'

    Russian news website Lifenews has published images of what it says are the first from the scene of the crash, taken from Egyptian media. In one photo, part of the aircraft is seen blackened, scorched and smouldering on the ground.

  14. Charlie Winter

    Quilliam Foundation

  15. Cairo morgue

    Egyptian security services stand poised to receive the bodies of some of the plane crash victims outside Zeinhom morgue in Cairo.

    Members of the Egyptian security services stand guard as they await the bodies of the victims of the Russian passenger flight crash, Zeinhom morgue, Cairo, Egypt, 31 October 2015.EPA

  16. Air traffic 'normal'

    Despite the earlier plane crash, air traffic is operating normally over the Sinai Peninsula with flights heading both in and out of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Flight Radar reports.

  17. IS claim 'a fabrication'

    Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov says the plane could not have been downed by a missile fired by jihadist militants. "Such reports cannot be considered true," he tells the Interfax news agency, according to BBC Monitoring. 

    "We are in close touch with our colleagues from Egypt and their air traffic authorities, and they have nothing at the moment which could confirm such fabrications," he adds.

  18. Air and ground control staff 'questioned'

    Prosecutors in North Sinai have summoned air and ground traffic controllers for questioning over the crash, Egypt's state-owned al-Ahram newspaper reports. A team from the civil aviation ministry has also been instructed to analyse the contents of the plane's black box, it adds.

  19. Emotional scenes

    Relatives of those killed are seen distraught over the news at a hotel near St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport.

    Relatives of victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt, mourn at a hotel near Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia,on 31 October 2015.Reuters

  20. Sisi talks to Putin

    Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has telephoned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the plane crash, the Kremlin says. President Sisi says he will allow Russian experts to be involved in the investigation into what caused the disaster.