Russian services widen search area at plane crash site in Egypt

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has decided to widen the area of a search operation at the crash site of an Airbus A321 passenger plane to 40 square kilometers from 30 square kilometers.

"An operational team is working in Cairo, a strong group of rescuers and our colleagues from Egypt is working at the disaster area, and technical services and other specialists have started working at the disaster area as well. Unmanned aerial vehicles are also working," Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said at a teleconference on Nov. 4.

"I will ask for additionally examining all possible locations where the plane\'s fragments might be [found] and widen the search area to 40 square kilometers, using unmanned aerial vehicles and space monitoring systems," Puchkov said.