‘Explosive device’ may have downed plane, UK says

Flights from Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh airport to the United Kingdom have been delayed amid concerns that the Russian jet that crashed in Egypt this weekend was brought down by an “explosive device,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

While the investigation into what caused the plane crash is ongoing, the plane “may well have been brought down by an explosive device,” the spokesman for the office of the British prime minister said.

All flights due to leave Sharm el Sheikh for the U.K. this evening were delayed to allow a team of U.K. experts to assess security, Downing Street said.

Egypt’s president is in the U.K. and is expected to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron.

The Russian Metrojet plane mysteriously crashed in the Egyptian desert early Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. The plane’s black boxes are still being analyzed.

The head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Nick Rasmussen, said this week the intelligence community so far has no information to corroborate any specific nexus to terrorism. But he emphasized that “it’s an unfolding” situation.

Monday the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a warning instructing its employees not to travel anywhere in the Sinai Peninsula pending the outcome of the investigation into the crash. The embassy called it a “precautionary measure.”