Airport Employees Detained in Connection to Russian Plane Crash

By The Moscow Times

Nov. 17, 2015

Departure hall at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport.

Egyptian authorities have detained two Sharm el-Sheikh Airport employees in connection with the downing of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai Peninsula, Reuters news agency reported Tuesday, citing two anonymous security officials.

"Seventeen people are being held, two of them are suspected of helping whoever planted the bomb on the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh Airport," one official said, Reuters reported.

Egypt has not yet confirmed that the Russian plane was downed by a bomb.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it was certain that the Kogalymavia Airbus A321 flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg has been downed by a bomb.

“We will find the terrorists anywhere on earth and punish them,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said following the announcement.

The FSB has offered a $50 million reward for information related to the downing of the passenger plane over Egypt, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The Russian passenger plane crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board.

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