The Russian Airbus that crashed in Egypt broke apart "in the air," a senior official with Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said Sunday.
"The disintegration happened in the air and the fragments are strewn over a large area," committee chief Viktor Sorochenko was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti news agency in Cairo, where he is part of an international panel of experts from Russia, Egypt, France and Ireland.
Sorochenko said it was "too early to draw conclusions" about what caused the crash.
On Saturday morning, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt's central Sinai Saturday, killing all 217 passengers and seven crew members, with the reasons behind the crash yet to be determined.
The plane, whose passengers were mainly Russian tourists, lost contact with radar at 6.20am CLT (Cairo local time), less than half an hour after takeoff. It was flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
