David Cameron has said the Russian jet crash over Egypt was “more likely than not” caused by a bomb, as he defended his decision to halt all flights between the UK and the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Speaking from Downing Street after a meeting of the UK government’s Cobra emergency committee, the prime minister said it could “take some time” to start flying UK tourists back from Sharm.
More than 20,000 British citizens have been stranded in Egypt since the government took the decision on Wednesday to advise against all but essential air travel to the airport in Sinai.
Downing Street said it could not be categorical but an evolving picture, partly based on secret intelligence, suggested that a bomb may have caused the Russian Metrojet plane to crash in Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. A group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt made a second claim of responsibility for the disaster on Wednesday.
Cameron said he had “every sympathy” with Egyptian concerns about the move and would discuss them in talks with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon.
Before that, he spoke to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, by phone about the latest developments.
The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said the UK’s decision was premature and unwarranted and Russia has also downplayed suggestions that the plane was brought down by terrorists.
But Cameron said it was important to prioritise the interests of UK citizens.
“The decisions that I am taking are about putting the safety of British people first,” Cameron said. “That is why we have suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and that is why it is going to take some time before we can fly people out.
“What we need to put in place is more security at that airport so it is safe to fly people home.”
Earlier, the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said there was a “significant possibility” that a bomb brought down the Russian plane, in the light of the claim of responsibility by IS Sinai.
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