Cairo, Muharram 18, 1437, Oct 31, 2015, SPA -- A Russian airliner returning from a popular resort town in Egypt crashed shortly after takeoff on Saturday, killing all 224 people aboard, officials said. The plane, an Airbus A321 operated by the small airline Kogalymavia, crashed in Egypt's mountainous Sinai Peninsula about 20 minutes after taking off on an early morning flight from the Red Sea town of Sharm al-Sheikh to Russia's second largest city, St Petersburg, dpa reported. The pilot told air traffic controllers that there was a technical failure and requested to land, Egyptian state media reported. The plane's wreckage was found in the al-Hassanah area in the peninsula's rugged central mountains. There were 217 passengers and seven crew members aboard the aircraft, the Egyptian government said. Almost all of them were Russian citizens, Russian state media reported. The 18-year-old plane was flying at an altitude of 31,000 feet when it disappeared from control tower radars, 23 minutes after taking off around 5:50 am (0350 GMT), Egyptian authorities said. Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash. The government said it was sending a team of investigators to the crash site. --SPA 20:25 LOCAL TIME 17:25 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w