ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY BUT TECH FAULTS BLAMED
An affiliate of terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Russian plane disaster.

The claim of responsibility for the crash that killed all 224 people on board was also carried by the Aamaq website, which acts as a semi-official news agency for Islamic State.

“The fighters of the Islamic State were able to down a Russian plane over Sinai province carrying over 220 Russian crusaders. “They were all killed, thanks be to god,” the statement circulated on Twitter said.

However, Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said experts had confirmed that a plane could not be downed at 9,450m (31,000ft), the altitude the Airbus 321 was flying at, by weapons the militants are known to possess.

A number of major airlines – Emirates, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and Qatar Airways – have decided not to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until more information is available. Two smaller carriers, flydubai and Air Arabia, also said they would re-route flights, while Etihad Airways said avoid only “certain areas of airspace” over Sinai.