Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 News Keeping wartime morale high: the Villa Bologna 1940s Day Dedicated revelers took on the inclement weather yesterday to dress up for the 1940s Day at Villa Bologna in Attard. For this full-day event, visitors were encouraged to don attire reminiscent of wartime glamour, behind the backdrop of the villa's beautiful gardens and to the tune of swing bands and electroswing DJ sets PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD 224 killed as Russian passenger jet crashes in Egypt RUSSIAN transport minister Maksim Sokolov refuted the claim that Islamic State militants brought down a Russian plane in Egypt, claiming that it "can't be considered accurate". All 224 people on board a Rus- sian airliner that crashed in central Sinai on Saturday were killed. "Now in various media there is assorted information that the Rus- sian [plane]... was supposedly shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, fired by terrorists. This informa- tion can't be considered accurate," Sokolov said. Earlier, a militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for bringing down the Russian passenger plane as it flew through the Sinai peninsula. The claim was circulated by ISIS supporters on Twitter and also pub- lished on the Aamaq news website, which has previously been used on a semi-official basis by Islamic State to circulate propaganda. There is no confirmation from any other sources that the plane crashed as a result of terrorist ac- tivity – and Egyptian officials were quick to rule that out as a cause of the crash earlier this morning. The Airbus A-321 had departed from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg. The flight, operated by Metrojet and bound for St Petersburg, lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes after departure. Its wreckage was found about 100km south of the north Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said. A north Sinai security source said a technical fault was the initial explanation for the crash, adding that the plane landed in a "vertical fashion". The first rescue workers at the scene described the plane as "com- pletely destroyed" and an Egyptian security officer said that many passengers had died strapped in to their seats. "The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part that crashed into a rock. We have extracted at least 100 bodies and the rest are still in- side," he said. The Russian embassy in Cairo said it was told by Egyptian offi- cials that the pilot had been trying to make an emergency landing at El-Arish. Conflicting reports earlier emerged, with suggestions that there were some survivors after voices were heard in the wreck- age of the plane's cabin. Egyptian search and rescue officials said later that all 224 on board, includ- ing 17 children, died. 214 of the passengers on board were Russian and three Ukrain- ians, most of whom were tourists. Seventeen were children aged be- tween 2 and 17. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Sunday a day of mourn- ing, and has ordered an official in- vestigation into the crash. A delegation headed by Sokolov left for Egypt yesterday afternoon, and a criminal case has been opened against the airline, Koga- lymavia, for "violation of rules of flight and preparation for them," Russia's Ria news agency reported. A centre to help the victims' rela- tives has been set up at Pulkovo airport, Tass news agency quoted St Petersburg city officials as say- ing. Initially there were conflicting reports about the fate of the plane, some suggesting it had disappeared over Cyprus. However, the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail con- firmed in a statement that a "Rus- sian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai".