The Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt has claimed it downed the Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula, where the jihadists are waging an insurgency, killing all on board.

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

The Russian plane carrying over 224 people on board crashed in central Sinai, Egypt confirmed Saturday.

A statement from the prime minister’s office said Sherif Ismail had formed a cabinet level crisis committee to deal with the crash, Reuters and Ria Novosti report.

The Airbus A-321 belonging to Kogalymavia airline, a small airline based in Western Siberia, took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.

(With inputs from AFP)