Body parts retrieved from MS804 crash site suggest there was an EXPLOSION on board, says Egyptian forensic official
Human
remains retrieved from the EgyptAir 804 crash site point to an
explosion on board, an Egyptian forensic official said today.
The official is part of the investigation team that has personally examined the body parts taken to a Cairo morgue.
He
said all 80 pieces brought to the capital so far were small and that
'there isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head.'
The
official, who declined to be named, added that 'the logical explanation
is that it was an explosion' that may have brought down the jet in the
Mediterranean.
The revelation came after the head of Egypt's
state-run provider of air navigation services said the doomed jet did
not swerve or lose altitude before it disappeared off radar.
The mother (left) of EgyptAir hostess
Yara Hani Tawfik weeps during a mass at Al-Boutrossiya Church for
victims of jet disaster on Sunday. Relatives faced further agony today
after an Egyptian forensic official said the human remains recovered
from the crash site were so small it suggested there was an explosion on
board
U.S. Navy personnel ready equipment on
board a Lockheed P-3C Orion patrol aircraft during a operation on
Sunday for debris and human remains of MS804 which crashed in the
Mediterranean, killing 66 people
Mourners sit in their cars waiting to
enter the El-Mosheer Tantawy Mosque in Cairo ahead of the memorial
ceremony held by EgyptAir for relatives and family members of EgyptAir
staff on flight MS804 last night
EgyptAir staff walk between cars as they try to enter the El-Mosheer Tantawy Mosque for the memorial
A mourners sits in his car waiting to enter the Al Mosheer Tantawy mosque in Cairo for the prayer service
The comments by Ehab Azmy, head of the National Air Navigation Services Company, challenged an earlier account by Greece's defence minister.
Mr
Azmy said that in the minutes before the EgyptAir plane disappeared it
was flying at its normal altitude of 37,000 feet, according to the radar
reading.
His
comments came as hundreds of mourners attended a memorial service for
the 66 victims at the Al Mosheer Tantawy mosque in Cairo.
Mr
Azmy said: 'That fact degrades what the Greeks are saying about the
aircraft suddenly losing altitude before it vanished from radar.
'There
was no turning to the right or left and it was fine when it entered
Egypt's FIR (flight information region), which took nearly a minute or
two before it disappeared.'
According
to Greece's defence minister Panos Kammenos, the plane swerved wildly
and dropped to 10,000 feet before it fell off radar.
Greek
civil aviation authorities said all appeared fine with the flight until
air traffic controllers were to hand it over to their Egyptian
counterparts.
The service was held as an Egyptian
air traffic official said the doomed jet did not swerve or lose altitude
before it disappeared off radar, contradicting an earlier account by
Greece's defence minister
The mass prayer ceremony took place at the Al-Mosheer Tantawy Mosque in Cairo last night
Mourners arrive for a memorial for the victims of the EgyptAir crash at Cairo's Al Mosheer Tantawy mosque
The pilot did not respond to their calls and then the plane vanished from radars.
Meanwhile
a French ship yesterday joined the international effort to hunt for the
black boxes and other wreckage of the flight, which crashed into the
Mediterranean, killing all 66 people on board.
Five
days after the air disaster, questions remain over what happened to the
jet before it disappeared off radar at around 2.45am local time on
Thursday.
Egyptian authorities said they believe terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure.
Some
aviation experts have also said the erratic flight reported by the
Greek defence minister suggests a bomb blast or a struggle in the
cockpit.
But so far no hard evidence has emerged.
A
2013 report by the Egyptian ministry of civil aviation records that the
same Airbus 320 made an emergency landing in Cairo that year, shortly
after taking off on its way to Istanbul, when one of the engines
'overheated'.
Aviation experts have said that overheating is uncommon yet is highly unlikely to cause a crash.
Egypt,
which is sending a submarine to search for the flight recorders, also
refuted earlier reports alleging that search crews had found the plane's
black boxes which could offer vital clues to what happened in the final
minutes of the flight.
It was initially claimed that Mohamed
Said Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into
the sea last Thursday, with the loss of 66 lives, while travelling from
Paris to Cairo
Data indicates the plane was on fire
before it plummeted into the Mediterranean. An ACARS screen grab (above)
shows smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit sounded at
00.26GMT, three minutes before the plane lost contact
Ships
and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the United States
are taking part in the search for the debris from the aircraft,
including the black boxes.
Some wreckage, including human remains, has already been recovered.
The
French vessel that joined the effort is equipped with sonar that can
pick up the underwater 'pings' emitted by the recorders.
The
search area is roughly halfway between Egypt's coastal city of
Alexandria and the Greek island of Crete, where the water is 8,000 to
10,000 feet deep.
Yesterday,
the remains of the first victims began arriving at a morgue in Cairo to
start the long and painful process of identifying the bodies which have
been described as 'unrecognisable'.
More
than 20 body bags containing parts of corpses recovered from the
Mediterranean crash site were brought to the Zenhom morgue by the
Egyptian Army at midnight on Sunday.
Close
family members began arriving at the morgue yesterday morning after
being invited to give DNA samples to aid their identification.
Relatives of the Christian victims of
EgyptAir flight MS804 weep during an absentee funeral mass at the main
Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday. Remains of the first victims were
described as 'unrecognisable' as they were taken to Cairo to start the
long and painful process of identifying the bodies
A Coptic Christian grieves during
prayers for victims of Thursday's crash EgyptAir crash at the
Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo,
Egypt on Sunday
A forensic source said: 'There is no complete body. There are only body parts. They are unrecognisable.
'But
it is important for the families to be able to bury their loved-ones
and to be able to visit their grave to help with the mourning process.'
Dr
Sham Abdel-Hamid, head of the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority,
said: 'The authorities started taking blood samples from relatives to
match results from body parts to identify the victims.'
It
comes as hundreds of mourners attended memorial services over the
weekend for some of the 66 victims of the EgyptAir plane which
mysteriously crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday.
The
mystery of the crash also deepened over the weekend amid reports the
pilot spoke about 'an emergency descent' aimed at putting out a fire on
board.
It
was initially claimed Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair lost all radio
contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea last Thursday,
killing all 66 people on board, en route from Paris to Cairo.
But
aviation sources in Paris have now said he contacted Egyptian air
traffic controllers to say he was going to make an emergency landing
because there smoke filling the plane.
There
was 'conversation several minutes long' between Captain Shoukair and
the controllers, which amounted to 'a distress call', according to
French TV station M6.
However, the claims were last night denied by EgyptAir.
A
spokesman said: 'Claims made by the French TV station are not true. The
pilot did not contact Egypt air control before the incident.'
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