Experts examine black boxes

Investigators began their examination on Tuesday of the two black boxes from the Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the probe would take time.

Mr Sisi described a claim by the Egyptian branch of the ISIS jihadist group that it downed the Airbus A321 that crashed on Saturday killing all 224 people on board as “propaganda”.

The first 10 bodies of the victims were identified by their families on Tuesday, Russian officials said.

Alexei Smirnov of the Russian emergency situations ministry said that a total of 140 bodies and more than 100 body parts were delivered to St. Petersburg on two government planes on Monday and Tuesday, and that a third plane is expected to bring more remains later on Tuesday.

The examination of the black boxes — one which recorded on-board conversations and the other flight data — started around midday, an Egyptian civil aviation ministry official said.

The probe could last several weeks or months if the recordings in the black boxes have been damaged, sources said. Russia’s government commission overseeing the investigation was also due to meet on Tuesday.

The Saint Petersburg-bound plane operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Most of the passengers were Russian tourists.

Kogalymavia said the plane crashed due to “external action”, and that there was no technical fault or human error. It insisted the aircraft was in an “excellent technical condition”.

Within hours of the crash, the Egyptian affiliate of ISIS based in the Sinai claimed it had downed the jet in retaliation for Russian airstrikes targeting fellow jihadists in Syria.

“When there is propaganda that it crashed because of ISIS, this is one way to damage the stability and security of Egypt and the image of Egypt,” Mr Sisi told the BBC.

“The plane was at 35,000 feet altitude. Believe me, the situation in Sinai — especially in this limited area — is under our full control.”

Mr Sisi warned the probe could take years as in the case of Pan-Am flight 103 from London to New York that was brought down by a bomb and crashed into the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.

“It takes time to clarify the incidents. You had the Pan-American that crashed over Europe. It took years before you reached the truth about the real reasons why it crashed,” Mr Sisi said.

On Monday, US director of national intelligence James Clapper said it was “unlikely” that ISIS was involved in the Kogalymavia plane crash but did not rule out the possibility.

Alexander Neradko, head of Russia’s aviation authority, criticised the airline’s comments ruling out technical fault or human error, saying they were “premature and not based on any real facts”.

Egypt, Russia and US have downplayed the ISIS claim.