Russia's Vladimir Putin calls for 'objective picture' of plane crash: report

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the crash of a Russian Airbus A321 in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula was a great tragedy and he called on investigators to build an "objective picture" of what happened.

The plane had been heading from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to the Russian city of St Petersburg when it crashed on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Russian officials have said the jet broke up in mid-air, but why it did so remains a mystery.

Earlier on Monday Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no theory could yet be ruled out.

"I would like to once again express my condolences to the families and relatives of the victims," Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

"Without any doubt everything should be done so that an objective picture of what happened is created, so that we know what happened," Putin said in comments cited by ITAR-TASS.

"This work should be continued until we are fully sure that this stage is complete."