俄遇難客機調查工作擴大搜尋範圍

International teams investigating the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula widened their search for victims and wreckage yesterday, after one of the deadliest incidents involving an Airbus in more than a decade.

對墜毀在西奈半島的俄羅斯客機進行調查的國際團隊昨日擴大了對遇難者和飛機殘骸的搜尋範圍。這是10多年來涉及空客(Airbus)飛機的遇難者最多的事故之一。

The bodies of at least 163 of the 224 on board have been recovered and taken to morgues in Cairo, the Egyptian cabinet said. The search area now covers a 15km radius from the crash site, rather than an 8km radius, it said.

埃及內閣表示，在224名機上人員中，已至少找到163具遺體並送往開羅的太平間。埃及方面表示，以墜落地點爲中心，目前搜尋半徑已從8公里擴大到15公里。

The Airbus 321 operated by the Russian carrier Metrojet crashed early Saturday morning in a remote mountainous area 23 minutes after it took off from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all on board.

由俄羅斯航空公司Metrojet運營的這架空客321飛機上週六清晨從埃及的紅海度假勝地沙姆沙伊赫( Sharm el-Sheikh)起飛，23分鐘後在偏遠的多山地區墜毀，機上所有人全部罹難。

Speculation about the cause of the crash intensified after Sinai Province, a militant group which claims to be affiliated with Isis, said it had downed the airliner, a claim both Russian and Egyptian officials have rejected.

一個號稱與“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(Isis)有關係的軍事組織“西奈省”(Sinai Province)宣稱，是他們造成這架客機墜毀，這加劇了各方對事故原因的猜測。但俄羅斯和埃及官員都否認了這一說法。

Viktor Sorochenko, a director of Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee, said last night that the aircraft had broken apart in mid-air, with the wreckage “scattered over a large area of about 20 square kilometres”. But he added that it was “too early to draw conclusions” about the reason for the crash.

俄羅斯國家間航空委員會(Interstate Aviation Committee)主任維克托∠坽琴科(Viktor Sorochenko)昨晚表示，飛機在空中解體，殘骸“散落在約20平方公里的廣大範圍內”。但他補充道，要對事故原因“下結論還爲時尚早”。

Russian officials including the ministers of transport, emergency and civil aviation, along with search and rescue teams and investigators, were working with their Egyptian counterparts at the crash site, south of the North Sinai capital of El-Arish, last night.

昨夜，在北西奈首府阿里什(El-Arish)以南的墜機現場，俄羅斯交通、緊急處理和民航部門的部長等官員、搜救隊和調查人員與埃及方面的相關人員一同開展工作。

Sharif Ismail, Egypt’s prime minister, said experts had confirmed that the airliner could not have been downed at the altitude it was flying at by the weapons the Sinai militants are known to possess — a position echoed by Maxim Sokolov, Russia’s transport minister.

埃及總理謝里夫伊斯梅爾(Sharif Ismail)表示，專家們已經確認，以客機當時飛行的高度，這架客機不可能被西奈武裝分子據悉擁有的武器擊落——俄羅斯交通部長馬克西姆∠科洛夫(Maxim Sokolov)也提出了同一論斷。