The passenger plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai on Saturday was completely destroyed and most of those on board are likely to have died, an Egyptian security officer who had recently arrived at the scene told Reuters.
The plane went down in a mountainous area in central Sinai and poor weather conditions have made it difficult for rescue crews to get to the scene, the officer said. Survivors and bodies of those on board will be flown to Cairo, the security source said.
Egyptian search and rescue teams have found the site of the crashed Russian passenger plane in the Hassana area, south of Arish, Sinai, the civilian aviation ministry said on Saturday.
The plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet when it vanished from radar screens, the ministry said in a statement.
There were no indications that a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday was shot down, Egyptian security sources said.
Egypt's North Sinai is home to a two-year-old Islamist insurgency and militants affiliated to Islamic State have killed hundreds of soldiers and police.
