‘Bomb in a can’ smuggled on board downed Russian Airbus, Isis claims

The bomb which blew up a Russian Airbus over Egypt was “smuggled” onboard after Isis militants discovered a way to compromise the security at Sharm el-Sheikh airport, the group has claimed.

The improvised bomb was made from a soft-drink can, according to an image published online in the Islamists’ monthly English-language magazine, Dabiq.

The photo of the device showed a Schweppes Gold drink can and what appeared to be a detonator and switch lying on a blue piece of fabric.

Isis said in accompanying text that it had initially planned to bring down a plane “belonging to a nation in the American-led western coalition against Islamic State” but switched to a Russian aircraft after Moscow began its campaign of airstrikes against militant targets in Syria at the end of September, the Times reported.

The Metrojet Airbus A321 took off from the Red Sea resort on October 31 but disintegrated over the Sinai desert 23 minutes into its flight to St Petersburg.

Most of the people on board the chartered aircraft were Russian tourists returning home. All 224 passengers and crew died.

The device that detonated on board was a time-bomb planted under a passenger’s seat, according to reports in Moscow yesterday.

The claims came as the UK ended special security measures to allow more than 16,500 British travellers in Sharm el-Sheikh to fly home safely on special repatriation flights.