The Civil Aviation Ministry said that the initial report issued by the commission investigating the Russian plane crash in Sinai on October 31 did not in any way rule out the possibility of an act of sabotage that could have brought the plane down.
Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Rahma said the report is an important document to refer to in further investigations. “It was very carefully worded,” he said.
The report was issued one month after the crash, in accordance with international rules.
“The commission has so far not received any information indicating an unlawful interference or terrorist act. Therefore, the commission is continuing with its technical investigation,” Rahma quoted the report as saying.
“The report did not rule out or deny the possibility of a terrorist act, nor did it say the investigation is over as claimed by the media,” he said, calling on the media to be more precise when quoting the commission.
Controversy was triggered when the media said the commission ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act, as Dmitry Peskov, the media spokesman of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he would not comment on Egyptian statements saying no evidence of a terrorist act was found, while Russian experts concluded that it was an act of terrorism.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
