A Russian aircraft carrying 224 people has crashed in the Central Sinia Pennisula of Egypt, the country’s authorities confirmed on Saturday.

The Egyptian Prime Minister, Sharif Ismail, confirmed in a statement that the crash involved a Russian plane and that all the 224 passengers and crew died in the accident. The Russian Embassy in Cairo has also confirmed

that there were no survivors in the crash.

The Egyptian Civil Aviation ministry said the search and rescue teams discovered the site of the crashed Russian passenger plane in the Hassana area, south of Arish, Sinai.

The ministry said the plane vanished from radar screens soon after take-off as it reached an altitude of 31,000 ft. and have for the moment have ruled out a terrorist attack on the passenger jet.

According to the local authorities, the pilot of the plane requested clearance for an emergency landing at Cairo airport due to a technical malfunction before disappearing from the radar.

Rescuers report gory scenes with many of the passengers found still strapped to their seats. Some eye witnesses have reported seeing some fire before the plane crash.