Iran’s Foreign Ministry Condoles with Russia over Deadly Plane Crash


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed sympathy with Russian nation and government over the crash of a Russian passenger plane which resulted in the deaths of all 224 people on board.

Marziyeh Afkham also described the incident as “tragic” and sympathized with the bereaved families of the victims.

Earlier, Egyptian military and security officials said none of the 224 people on board the Russian Airbus A321 which crashed earlier on Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula were alive.

The Russian passenger plane was carrying 214 Russian passengers and three Ukrainians, along with seven crew members, the Egyptian Cabinet said in a statement. Out of the total 217 passengers, 138 were women, 62 men and 17 were children, the statement added.

The plane, which was flying from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia's St. Petersburg, lost contact with air traffic control about 25 minutes after take-off and the Egyptian Prime Minister's office confirmed it had crashed early this morning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared November 1 a day of mourning, the Kremlin press service reported. Earlier Putin expressed his condolences to the passengers' relatives.