224 people were killed in a Russian aircraft in Sinai, Egypt Saturday morning. The Russian state media reported that many of the travelers on-board Kogalymavia Flight 9268 were Russians returning from vacation. Although the passengers manifest listed only 17 kids on-board, Russian officials reported that were 25 children and seven crew members.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted that four victims were Ukrainian nationals.
Now what is strange about this catastrophe is that there was no sign of distress or trouble before the aircraft suddenly disappeared from the radar and crashed. “Air traffic control recordings did not show any distress calls,” Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamel reported. According to an online statement, Islamic militants in the Sinai linked to ISIS claimed they were the ones responsible for the crash. Egyptian Airports Co. chief Adel Al-Mahjoob informed CNN, however, that although the cause of the crash still is unknown, it was most likely a cause of technical failure , and that no evidence of any terrorist action has been found. He also stated the flight had a routine inspection before takeoff, showing that everything was good to go.
The plane headed for St.Petersburg, Russia departed from Sharm el-Sheikh, Sinai and dissapeared from the radar only 23 minutes into flight at 6:20 a.m.
Early Sunday morning, Russians headed to the Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg and left red and white carnations and stuffed toys for the victims of flight 9268. One table had candles and some friends and family paused in front of the memorial before their final goodbye, others stayed and waited for the bodies of their relatives to be returned.