Search officials in Sinai report ‘pained voices’ coming from section of aircraft that was carrying 224 people from Sharm el-Sheikh

A Russian plane carrying more than 200 passengers from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has crashed in central Sinai with most of those on board feared dead.

The jet, operated by the Russian company Kogalymavia and branded as Metrojet, was “completely destroyed with all on board likely to have died”, a security officer from the search and rescue team said.

But officers at the scene said the voices of trapped passengers could be heard from a section of the crashed plane. Destined for St Petersburg, it was carrying 224 people, including 17 children and seven crew members.

“The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part that crashed into a rock. We have extracted at least 100 bodies and the rest are still inside,” an anonymous officer told Reuters.

“There is another section of the plane with passengers inside that the rescue team is still trying to enter and we hope to find survivors, especially after hearing pained voices of people inside.”

Egypt’s health ministry had dispatched 45 ambulances to the scene to “evacuate the dead and wounded” which could indicate the possibility of survivors, though this remains unconfirmed. At least five of the children on board are feared dead.

The crash site was found on Saturday morning in southern Arish, a mountainous area of central Sinai, but poor weather conditions were making it difficult for some rescue crews to reach the scene, the security officer said.

Northern Sinai is home to groups of Islamist militants, many affiliated to Islamic State, but there were no indications the plane was shot down, Egyptian security sources told Reuters.

A statement from the Egyptian prime minister’s office said Sherif Ismail formed a cabinet-level crisis committee to deal with the crash, which was believed to have been caused by a mechanical failure. The prime minister has since departed for the crash site with several cabinet ministers on a private jet, the tourism ministry said.