https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... 04-victims
Thursday 15 December 2016 16.21 GMT
Egyptian air accident investigators have revealed that traces of explosives
were detected on the remains of victims
of the EgyptAir flight from Paris that crashed in the Mediterranean sea in May.
The claim by Egypt’s civil aviation investigation committee suggests that the crash, which killed all 66 people on board,
was caused by a bomb,
although it does not solve the mystery of where a device might have been smuggled on board - or who was responsible.
The disappearance of the EgyptAir flight came only months after a Russian airliner flying from Sharm el-Sheikh was brought down by a bomb over the Sinai Peninsula – killing 224 people. That attack was claimed by the local affiliate of Islamic State.
“The central directorate of aircraft accident investigation received reports from the forensic medicine authority indicating traces of explosive materials
found in some of the remains of the victims’ bodies,” the ministry stated on Thursday.
An Egyptian source familiar with the matter said Cairo had informed France months ago of its findings
but French investigators had requested more time to study them.
“That is why it took so long to make an announcement,” the source said,
The EgyptAir plane had been flying from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean.
Investigators determined that a fire had broken out in or near the cockpit before it crashed between Crete and the coast of northern Egypt.
The word “fire” was audible on the plane’s cockpit voice recorder shortly before it crashed, the Egyptian investigative committee said in July.
The black box, retrieved from the crash site by a specialist diving vessel, also confirmed that smoke alarms had been triggered onboard,
while recovered wreckage had indications of soot.
The Airbus A320 had broadcast a number of fault messages before contact was lost, indicating that smoke had entered the nose of the aircraft where sensitive avionics control systems are housed.
Flight data, however, suggested that rather than exploding in mid-air, the plane had flown into the sea.
Egyptian investigators have confirmed the aircraft made a 90-degree left turn followed by a 360-degree turn to the right before hitting the sea.
Since the crash, small pieces of the wreckage and human remains have been recovered, while the bulk of the plane and the bodies of victims are believed to be in the water.
In September, French investigators were reported to have found trace levels of the explosive TNT
on recovered debris but claimed they were prevented from further examining it.
Egyptian officials denied the claim.
The latest announcement came as it was disclosed that the families of five French victims had launched a petition to recover the remains of those lost on the flight,
saying it had been seven months since they had been killed.
The Egyptian authorities had promised to return the bodies weeks ago but the process had inexplicably halted, perhaps because of the discovery of the explosive residue.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/ ... 04-victims
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