Egypt’s prosecutor ready to provide A321 crash probe details to Moscow

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. The Egyptian prosecutor general has expressed readiness to provide to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office information about the progress of investigation into the A321 airliner crash over Sinai last October, spokesman for the Prosecutor General’s Office Alexander Kurennoi told TASS on Wednesday after a meeting in Moscow between Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Prosecutor General of Egypt Nabil Sadek.

"The Prosecutor General of the Arab Republic of Egypt expressed readiness in case of need to provide to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and other concerned departments information about the status of the investigation into the A321 plane crash in October 2015", Kurennoi said.

Chaika’s meeting with his Egyptian counterpart took place in the Russian Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday. It was also attended by senior officials of the Russian and Egyptian supervisory agencies. "During the meeting the parties signed a memorandum on cooperation between the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and Prosecutor General’s Office of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The sides also discussed various issues of cooperation in the legal sphere and issues of combating international crime," the Prosecutor General’s Office spokesman said.

The A321 belonging to the Russian carrier, Kogalymavia was en route from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg in Russia when it crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early on October 31. All 224 people onboard, including 217 passengers and the seven-member crew, were killed.

This crash was the worst in the history of Russia’s aviation. After that crash Russia suspended all flights to Egypt. On November 17, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said that the crash had been caused by a terrorist act.