Russia: Two additional planes to be sent to Cairo overnight - EMERCOM

National Crisis Management Center spokesperson Alexei Smirnov confirmed that EMERCOM's Minister Vladimir Puchkov has arrived in Cairo, and that two more rescue and recovery planes are expected to land shortly, speaking from St. Petersburg on Saturday. "Two IL-76 EMERCOM planes with the rescuers from centre 'Leader' and 'Centrospas' and other specialists from the Ministry are on their way to with all the necessary equipment needed for search and rescue operations and operative groups," Smirnov stated. He went on to say that "the estimated time of arrival of the first plane is 02:15 [Moscow time], the second plane - 05:10 [Moscow time]." Also, "IL-76 flight for transportation of the bodies to St. Petersburg is planned from the airport Ramenskoye to the Cairo airport." Kogalymavia flight 7K9268 is reported to have crashed in Sinai around 23 minutes after take-off. There were a total of 224 people on board - 217 passengers, including 17 children, and seven crew members. Reports indicate that all but three passengers, who are purportedly Ukrainian, were Russian.