EgyptAir says information on finding plane wreckage not confirmed

Thursday 19-05-2016 05:59 PM

Egyptair plane

Cairo, May 19 (Aswat Masriya) - EgyptAir said via twitter that the authorities it contacted did not confirm information aired by several news channels regarding the finding of the wreckage of a missing EgyptAir jet near Crete Island in the Mediterranean. 

Egypt's armed forces announced that Greece, France, England, Cyprus and Italy are going to cooperate with Egypt in its search and rescue mission for the missing jet. 

The flight, MS804, disappeared off the radar as it was crossing the Mediterranean at 2:45 AM Cairo time en route from Paris to Cairo, EgyptAir said early Thursday morning. 

The Airbus 320 had 66 people of different nationalities on board, including two newborns and a child.

The passengers included 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, two Iraqi nationals, a British national, a Saudi national, a Portuguese national, a Belgian, a Kuwaiti, a Chadian, an Algerian, and a Canadian. There were also 10 EgyptAir crew members on board.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus had first swerved 90 degrees to the left, then spun through 360 degrees to the right. After plunging from 37,000 feet to 15,000, it vanished from Greek radar screens, Reuters reported.

There were two large floating objects discovered in a sea area 230 miles south of the island of Crete, Reuters reported that a Greek defence source said.

Egypt's civil aviation minister told a press conference on Thursday that it was "too early" to establish the reasons behind the incident, but added that he did not rule out any possibilities, including the possibility of a terrorist act.

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