MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Egypt expressed hope that the crash of a Russian A-321 aircraft on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was caused by technical problems which would not affect tourism to the country, Egyptian Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou told Sputnik on Monday.
"We hope it was a technical problem and it will not affect the Egyptian tourism industry," Zaazou said.
Zaazou added that Egypt would be able to assess the EU and Russian markets' reaction to the crash in 2-3 days.
On Saturday, a Russian airliner, carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed in the Sinai Peninsula en route from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Everyone on board, including 25 children, were confirmed dead by Russian and Egyptian authorities.
The tragedy has become the biggest civil aviation disaster in Russian and Soviet history.
