At least 150 victims, many of whom were still strapped to their seats, have been pulled from the wreckage of the Russian passenger plane which crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, rescue officials say.

None of the 224 people on board the Airbus A321 survived the crash, Egyptian authorities have confirmed, following earlier reports that voices had been heard coming from within the wreckage.

A Islamic State affiliated group has claimed responsibility for the crash, AP reports. 

"The soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane in Sinai," said the statement circulated on social media.

Russia's transport minister also urged caution, telling the Interfax news agency the claims "can't be considered accurate".
It is unclear whether militants in the region would have the capability to attack the plane, which was flying at around 36,000ft. 

Air France and Lufthansa have suspended all flights over the Sinai peninsula.

An Egyptian security officer at the scene said the bodies of five children were among those which have been found so far.

There are "a lot of dead on the ground and many who died whilst strapped to their seats," the official told news agency Reuters.

"The plane split into two, a small part on the tail end that burned and a larger part crashed into a rock," he added.

The plane, operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, also known as Metrojet, took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before six am local time, bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg.

It disappeared from radar screens some 23 minutes into the flight.

The wreckage was found in the mountainous Hassana area, 22 miles (35km) south of the northern city of Arish.

Rescuers have discovered the crucial black box, which contains vital aircraft data and will help investigators to work out what happened in the moments before the plane began its rapid descent.

The Russian airline has said it sees no grounds to blame human error for the crash, Russian news agencies reported.

Egyptian security sources, meanwhile, have said there is no indication the plane was shot down or blown up.

According to Egyptian media, the pilot reported a technical failure shortly after take off and requested to land at a nearby airport,

However, Mike Vivian, the former head of flight operations at the Civil Aviation Authority, told Sky News that "hostile action" should not be ruled out.

"Although hostile action has been dismissed I am absolutely certain that will be one of the focuses of investigators on the ground," he said.

Egypt's North Sinai is home to a two-year-old Islamist insurgency. Militants linked to Islamic State have killed hundreds of soldiers and have also attacked Western targets in recent months.

The plane, with registration number KGL-9268, had been flying at an altitude of 31,000ft when contact was lost, according to Egypt's civil aviation ministry.

According to Russian aviation sources, the plane was carrying 200 adult passengers, 17 children and seven crew members.

Of the passengers, 214 were Russian and three were Ukrainian, Egypt's cabinet said in a statement.

Several hundred relatives of those on board the flight gathered at Pulkovo airport near St Petersburg, where the plane was due to land, as reports of the crashed began to emerge. Many have now been taken to a nearby hotel to await information on the fate of their loved ones from the Russian authorities.

Although President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

He has declared Sunday a national day of mourning, and ordered a Russian search team to the crash site.

Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top investigative body, has also opened an investigation into possible violations of flight safety procedures.

Several world leaders, including British prime minister David Cameron, have expressed their condolences to the families involved.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims of the Russian plane crash in Egypt and the Bucharest nightclub fire

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) October 31, 2015

In a statement Airbus said: "The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to all those affected by this tragic accident of Flight 7K-9268."

It said the aircraft was produced in 1997 and had been operated by Metrojet since 2012. It had accumulated some 56,000 flight hours in nearly 21,000 flights.

Initially there were several conflicting reports about the fate of the plane. An Egyptian official told local media the plane was safely in Turkish airspace after briefly losing contact with air traffic controllers.

There were also reports that the plane went missing in Cypriot airspace.