Russia Says Sinai Passenger Plane Brought Down by Bomb

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Photo by Freeimages.com/Niels Rameckers

For the first time since the investigation began, Russian officials have said that a bomb brought down a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt in early November, killing all 224 people on board, the New York Times reports. 

In the early days after the crash, opinions had been split as to whether or not a terrorist bomb was to blame. Early intelligence reports by U.S. and UK officials suggested that ISIS brought down the plane with an onboard explosive, while investigators from the Egypt and Russia did not. 

“We can say definitely that this was a terrorist act,” Alexander V. Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., told the New York Times Tuesday. An "improvised explosive device" detonated soon after takeoff, causing the plane to disintegrate in midair. 

Most leisure travel flights to the Sinai remain suspended, the New York Times said, over concerns that airport staff may have helped to put the bomb onboard. 

According to NBC News, an Egyptian official has said that two employees from the Sharm el-Sheikh airport have been detained in connection with the bombing. A follow-up statement from Egypt's interior ministry, however, said that no one had been "arrested."

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