Egyptian security looted plane crash victims, says Russian lawyer

A lawyer acting on behalf of the relatives of people who died in a plane crash in Egypt has called for an investigation into looting of the plane crash victims' belongings by local security services.

Igor Trunov said on Thursday that the victims' relatives have asked him to open an inquiry into the looting of the plane's wreckage by Egyptian security services.

"I appealed to the head of the investigative group, to inform him that the [relatives of the crash] victims have reported the loss of a number of belongings that have not been returned to their rightful owners," Trunov told Russian state media.

"Basic investigative and other activities have been conducted by the Egyptian side, and it had a responsibility to record the examination of the scene and take measures to search for and keep safe [victims'] bodies, belongings and valuables," the lawyer added.

He said that in one instance jewellery and an iPhone of a victim were not returned to relatives, adding that the body was not badly damaged in the crash, raising suspicions the valuables were stolen at the crash site.

Last October, a Sinai-based branch of the Islamic state group [IS] claimed responsibility for the crash of a Russian passenger plane carrying holidaymakers, killing all 224 people on board.

IS said it had smuggled a bomb onto the plane at Sharm al-Sheikh airport in the south of the Sinai peninsula.

Moscow barred all Russian carriers from flying to and from Egypt afterwards, and Britain suspended air links with Sharm al-Sheikh.

A British firm hired to review security at Egypt airports after the crash began work earlier this month to "assessing security procedures at the Sharm al-Sheikh airport".

The London-based Control Risks reviewed procedures used to check passengers, baggage and devices used by security personnel at the airport.