A toddler killed in Egypt air disaster may hold the clue to why the plane crashed...

'Darina Gromova'

The youngest victim of last weekend's Russian tourist jet disaster may help solve the question of what happened to the Airbus A321 before it went down in Egypt last weekend.

Ten-month-old Darina Gromova from St Petersburg had been on holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh with her parents when they, and 221 others, died shortly after their flight to Russia took off on Saturday.

The baby girl's body was found more than 21 miles from the main crash site, indicating that the plane may have exploded earlier than aviation experts had previously thought. 

 

  

 

'Darina Gromova's parents'

 

That has forced investigators to widen the search area - and could lead to the discovery of otherwise missed clues. 

Recovery of victims and plane fragments had previously been restricted to a smaller area, but the discovery of Darina's body so far from the crash site has seen it widened to 25miles.

It is believed that the location of the baby girl's body was closer to the airport, suggesting that an on-board explosion tore apart the aircraft sooner after takeoff. 

The picture of little Darina, taken by her 26-year-old mother Tatiana at a St Petersburg airport shortly before they set off for Egypt, has become a symbol of the 224 victims of the disaster.

Mrs Gromova happily dubbed her daughter 'the main passenger' as the young family set off on a hard-earned vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh. 

The remains of little Darina were sent to Cairo on Thursday after being found miles from the main crash site in the Sinai Peninsula. 

Vladimir Svetelsky, a Russian emergency ministry official in Egypt, confirmed the girl's discovery, while the remains of her mother and father, Alexei Gromov, 27, have yet to be found.

Mr Gromov, the son of a Russian air force pilot, was an IT specialist while his wife-of-one-year had gone on maternity leave from her job as an exhibitions organiser. 

Her grandmother, Elena Gromova, told Russian news site Life News 78 that she offered to keep the baby home for the Egypt trip, but her parents said no.

'They wanted to take the child with them, to let her splash her feet in the sea,' Gromova was quoted as saying. 

'They did not want to leave her,' she said, in tears.

The location of Darina's body could become a significant clue as international aviation experts seek to understand the cause of the crash, dubbed the worst in Russian history.