Russian jet crash: Bodies of the 224 victims flown home from Egypt - The Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with 224 people on board broke apart in flight and rubble from the tail section was found separate from the rest of the fuselage, indicating that section might have split off in the air, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has claimed it brought down the A-321 jetliner in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula.

Viktor Sorochenko, a senior official with Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee, who is heading an international panel of experts, said it was too early to draw conclusions about what caused the flight from the Red Sea holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg to crash.

According to the airport officials, on Sunday, a Russian plane carrying 162 bodies of those killed left Cairo for Saint Petersburg. The Russian officials said it was expected to land at around 0200 GMT.

The investigators have recovered the "black box" flight recorders of A-321 jetliner which crashed killing all those on board, and its contents were being examined.

Rescue crews had recovered 168 bodies so far, including one of a girl found eight kilometres from the main wreckage, officers involved in the search efforts said.

On Sunday, flags flew at half-mast in Russia and entertainment programmes on TV were cancelled on a national day of mourning for the victims, most of them Russians ranging in age from 10 months to 77 years. Egypt said there were 214 Russian and 3 Ukranian passengers on board, and 7 crew members.

Both Moscow and Cairo have downplayed the claim from Egypt's IS branch that it brought down the aircraft flown by the airline Kogalymavia, operating under the name Metrojet.

A Russian team including Sokolov and emergencies minister, Vladimir Puchkov, visited the scene in a remote part of the Sinai. Moreover, two air accident investigators from France, Airbus's home country, were also due in Egypt with 6 experts.

Jean-Paul Troadec, former director of France's BEA aviation investigation agency, said to hit the plane at that altitude you would need hard-to-use missiles, so it seems unlikely that IS behind the attack.