A video emerged yesterday of a Russian-speaking member of IS praising his ‘Sinai brothers’ for destroying the Metrojet plane.

Brandishing a knife and surrounded by fellow jihadists, a man speaking in Russian and Arabic also warns Vladimir Putin of more attacks in revenge for air strikes against IS in Syria.

Meanwhile, an audio message posted on a Twitter account used by Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate – which calls itself the ‘Province of Sinai’ – yesterday boasted of taking out the Russian plane.

A video emerged of Russian terrorists praising the 'Sinai brothers' for allegedly destroying the jet and warning Vladimir Putin of further attacks in revenge for air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria

‘We say to the deniers and the doubters: Die in your rage,’ it said. ‘We, with God’s grace, are the ones who brought it down.’

Last night, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond confirmed the prime minister had chaired a meeting of the Cobra security committee after intelligence suggested the ‘significant possibility’ of a bomb causing the crash.

He said: ‘As a result of that review, we have concluded that there is a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft.’

Reports last night suggested the government was not acting on information gathered from the wreckage, but instead from US intelligence.

Devastation: Disturbing video emerged today of the smouldering wreckage of the Russian holiday jet which crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board

The footage, taken around two hours after the Airbus A321 went down in the Sinai desert, surfaced as more shocking details were revealed about the last minutes of the terrified victims

Satellite images are said to show a ‘flash’ before the aircraft plummeted to the ground, and one US official claimed ‘intercepted communications’ from Islamic State fighters also played a role.

But despite these reports, David Cameron was caught up in a diplomatic row after openly saying the plane ‘may well have been brought down by an explosive device’.

The Prime Minister was accused of acting ‘too hastily’ after all flights were suspended between the UK and Sharm El Sheikh.

Last night the deputy head of Sharm airport said Britain’s conclusion that the Russian plane may have been brought down by a bomb comes ‘too soon’ and may be aimed at damaging the country’s vital tourism sector.

And Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry last night told the BBC the decision was ‘premature and unwarranted’ and risked devastating the country’s vital tourism industry.

A top Egyptian aviation official echoed Mr Shoukry and claimed teams from Russian and British airlines had assessed security procedures at Sharm el-Sheikh airport yesterday and ‘left without making a single remark about it’.

Mr Cameron is due to hold talks with Egypt’s autocratic president today.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who seized power in a coup two years ago, has dismissed speculation of a terrorist attack as ‘propaganda’ designed to damage Egypt’s tourist industry. The two leaders had already spoken about the growing crisis in a phone call on Tuesday night.

Egypt was desperate to avoid Britain changing its travel advice for Sharm, which is one of the few resorts still considered safe.

Amid ongoing confusion about the fate of the doomed jet, forensic experts also revealed today that initial tests found no explosives on the victims, casting further doubt on claims a bomb may have been responsible

Crispin Blunt, Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said today’s talks were likely to be very awkward for Mr Cameron.

He added: ‘The tourist industry is historically very important to Egypt and the only place still in any sort of shape was Sharm, which has been relying on Russians and Brits mainly – it is difficult to see how many of them will be going now.’

Sharm El Sheikh – the country’s main tourist destination – is seen as a soft target because of seemingly lax security at its airport.

British tourists have described walking through metal detectors without being stopped even when the alarm sounds.

Following Saturday’s plane crash, in which all 224 on board died, investigators questioned caterers who delivered food onto the doomed Russian Airbus.

Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm claimed the crash was caused by an engine explosion - but did not elaborate on whether the blast was caused by a technical fault or a bomb.

However, Russian news outlet LifeNews, citing the same source, reported that a fire caused by a 'technical failure' in one of the engines triggered an explosion.

The revelations come after disturbing video emerged of the smouldering wreckage of the Airbus A321 which crashed in Egypt on Saturday killing all 224 people on board.

The Islamic State branch which claimed responsibility for downing the plane over the weekend has released a new statement challenging sceptics to prove it did not

The footage, taken around two hours after the Airbus A321 went down in the Sinai desert, surfaced as more shocking details were revealed about the last minutes of the terrified victims.

A doctor who examined around half the bodies recovered from the crash site said many had suffered horrific burns moments before their death.

His comments add further weight to evidence the Metrojet plane suffered an explosion or catastrophic fire that caused it to break up mid-air.

The doctor said around a fifth of the bodies had been badly burned, but not was not able to firmly conclude what caused the fire, he told The Daily Telegraph.

Amid ongoing confusion about the fate of the doomed jet, forensic experts also revealed today that initial tests found no explosives on the victims.

A source carrying out examinations told Russian news agency Tass: 'Preliminary tests did not reveal traces of explosives on the bodies of those killed.'

The agency also cited an Egyptian expert who claimed the bodies displayed 'no signs of external impact'.

The findings cast more doubt on claims by airline company Metrojet that only 'external factors' could have caused the crash rather than pilot error or a mechanical fault.

All flights from Sharm to Britain are to be delayed in order for extra security checks to take place.

Downing Street said on Wednesday afternoon that the the plane might have been brought down by an explosive device and as a result it has suspended all flights from the Sinai Peninsula as a precaution to allow time for a team of UK aviation experts, currently travelling to Sharm, to make an assessment of the security arrangements in place at the airport..

The renouncement came as the Islamic State branch which claimed responsibility for downing the plane released a new statement challenging sceptics to prove it did not.

The jihadist group, which operates in the Sinai Peninsula, again provided no details in its claim of responsibility in the audio message posted on social media sites today.

We brought it down, die in your rage. Prove that we didn't. Bring the wreckage and search it, bring your black boxes and analyse them Islamic State's Sinai affiliate

The group said: 'We brought it down, die in your rage. We are under no obligation to explain how it came down. Prove that we didn't bring it down and how it came down.

'Bring the wreckage and search it, bring your black boxes and analyse them and tell us the results of your investigation. We will detail how it came down at the time of our choosing.'

The group claimed that the plane was brought down on the 17th day of the month of Muharram in the Muslim lunar calendar, the first anniversary of the affiliate's pledge of allegiance to ISIS.

A video also emerged of Russian Islamic State terrorists praising the 'Sinai brothers' for allegedly destroying the jet.

Brandishing a knife and surrounded by four fellow jihadists, a man speaking in Russian and Arabic also warns Vladimir Putin of more attacks in revenge for air strikes against ISIS in Syria.

The ISIS affiliate in Egypt is conducting a bloody insurgency in the north of the Sinai Peninsula that has left hundreds of policemen and soldiers dead.

It also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on a police social club in the town of El-Arish today.

The official MENA news agency said four policemen were killed in the attack.

Yesterday, forensic experts said passengers sitting at the rear of the Metrojet plane had shrapnel injuries, were peppered with metal particles and suffered 90 per cent burns after a blast blew off the tail wing.

A heat flash caught on infra-red satellite pictures, taken the same time and in the same vicinity of the disaster, also indicated an explosion.

A black box recording also revealed strange sounds from the Airbus 321's cockpit minutes before it disappeared from radar and crashed into the Sinai Peninsular.

Egyptian military approach a plane's tail at the wreckage of a passenger jet bound for St Petersburg in Russia that crashed in Hassana

This section of cockpit was one of 12 wreckage sites spread across the north Sinai desert over a 20 square mile search area

Officials have begun downloading the data on the Flight Data Recorder, which will have information on the journey until it broke up

An initial inspection of the Cockpit Voice Recorder, pictured, found 'unusual noises' immediately before the aircraft was destroyed

The crew had routine exchange with air traffic controllers four minutes before the crash and had no indication of any impending problems.

But 'sounds uncharacteristic of routine flight' were recorded just before the disaster, an unnamed source quoted by Russian news agency Interfax said.

'Judging by the recording, a situation on board developed suddenly and unexpectedly for the crew, and as a result the pilots did not manage to send a distress signal,' the source added.

Passengers at the back of the plane died from blast wounds, but those at the front of the aircraft who were killed by chest and stomach injuries, multiple bones fractures, and torn inner organs, but had no sign of burning, Russian news outlet the LifeNews reported.

Meanwhile, a Russian official says families have identified the bodies of 33 victims killed in Saturday's crash.

A Russian model known to have missed flights in the past has been named among the victims.

Yelena Domashnyaya, 24, was travelling with her friend and colleague Kseniya Ogorodova, 33, back to St Petersburg from a holiday in Sharm-al-Sheikh.

Domashnyaya, an aspiring model, had left her job as a restaurant manager recently, but she remained close to Ogorodova, a bartender, and the two had decided to take a vacation togethe

Yelena Musakova, the restaurant director, described both girls as 'calm, cheerful and nice'.

'When we realized the girls were on that plane we still didn't want to believe it and hoped they missed the registration for the flight for such thing had happened to them once before.'

Yelena Domashnyaya was travelling with a colleague when their flight back to St Petersburg crashed

Heartache: A man and woman react next to flowers and candles placed in memory of the victims of the Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 accident in Sinai, Egypt, in Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg, Russia

A woman with her baby reacts as she stands near to floral tributes for the victims of the plane crash

Mourners continue to lay flowers and candles in memory of the victims of the Russian MetroJet Airbus crash at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg, Russia

Igor Albin, deputy governor of St Petersburg, said in a televised conference call that as of Wednesday morning families have identified 33 bodies.

Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said rescue teams in Egypt have expanded the search area to 40 square kilometres.

Russian officials have refrained from announcing the cause of the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.

Egyptian authorities have claimed that there is 'no proof' that a Russian Airbus which crashed in northern Sinai on Saturday broke up in mid air despite wreckage from the jet being spread over a 20 square mile radius.

Egypt's civil aviation ministry said Russian officials were wrong to claim the jet broke up at high altitude.

Mohamed Rahmi said no distress call had been received from the jet despite earlier claims by Egyptian authorities that the pilot had radioed and asked for an emergency landing.

Egyptian investigators interrogated caterers who delivered food onto the doomed Russian passenger jet yesterday amid growing evidence it may have been bombed.

Passengers seated in the rear suffered 'explosive' injuries and were peppered with shrapnel, unlike those at the front of the aircraft

Other officials gathered passports belonging to the 224 victims on the passenger jet which crashed on Saturday morning

Metrojet has released the Technical Log Book from the doomed flight to show the aircraft had no faults before it took off on Saturday

Tests were also being carried out on the fuel pumped into the tanks of the Airbus to check if impurities could have caused it to explode in mid-air and plunge 31,000ft soon after taking off from Sharm El Shekih, killing all 224 people on board.

The dramatic developments come amid growing concerns over security at the Red Sea resort which is visited by hundreds of thousands of Britons a year for winter sunshine.

US satellite surveillance detected a 'heat flash' over the Egyptian desert moments before the St Petersburg-bound jet crashed on Saturday morning, indicating a bomb or a fuel tank blowing up.

As evidence increased that it may have been brought down by a bomb, investigators were said to be quizzing staff who brought food onto the plane on the morning of the crash.

Food trolleys are wheeled into the galley at the back of the aircraft and stowed just in front of the rear pressure bulkhead.

'A driver and employees who brought meals for the passengers of flight 9268 in the morning on October 31 are being interrogated,' a spokesman for Misr Petroleum, one of Egypt's largest oil corporations, told Russian news agency TASS.

He added: 'The Misr Petroleum tank truck, which brought the kerosene to the plane, is currently at the airport, it is sealed.

'Experts from BP will take samples of aviation fuel to determine its quality and check it for the presence of likely impurities.'

Holidaymakers have also raised concerns about lacklustre security checks at the Red Sea resort airport.

No photographs have been released yet of the aircraft's rudder which broke off from the tail, pictured

Investigators have to work out exactly when each piece broke away from the airframe to determine the cause

Nicholas Hair wrote on Twitter the day after the crash: 'Security a bit lax at Sharm el Sheikh? Yeah. I set off a detector and the bloke told me to keep going so he could eat his dinner. For real.'

Mr Hair told MailOnline: 'I was walking through, the metal detector went off. The terminal was very busy.

'The security officer was eating his dinner and just waved me through. For me, it was very concerning.

'It doesn't take an awful lot of time to pat someone down after an alarm goes off, but there were several flights departing and it looked like they were short staffed and under pressure.

'It was far too lax. I should have at least been patted.

'I was wearing a thin jacket, T-shirt and jean shorts. Someone later told me they took two one-litre bottles of water on board at Sharm el-Sheikh.

'It is too early to say exactly what happened, but for me, security was not rigorous enough.'

Yesterday, a US defence official said the heat flash caught on infra-red satellite pictures, taken the same time and in the same vicinity of the disaster, indicate an explosion.

But there was no heat trail from the ground, suggesting it was not hit by a missile fired from below as Islamic State claimed immediately after the attack.

'The speculation that this plane was brought down by a missile is off the table,' the official told NBC News.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi dismissed as propaganda claims that terrorism was involved in the crash.

He insisted the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula is under 'full control' and that claims by the Islamic State group that it downed the jet were aimed at damaging the country's image.

But amid growing security concerns, the United States Embassy in Cairo instructed its staff not to travel anywhere in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as a 'precautionary measure.'