Explosives Traces Found on EgyptAir Victims

Evidence now points toward terrorism in crash that killed 66
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2016 11:01 AM CST
Explosives Traces Found on EgyptAir Victims
Personal belongings and other wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804.   (Egyptian Armed Forces via AP, File)

Traces of explosives have been found on some of the 66 victims aboard an EgyptAir Flight that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea earlier this year, and Egypt says it will now open a criminal investigation, reports the BBC. Flight 804 had been en route from Paris to Cairo when it went down, killing all aboard. Investigators have yet to pinpoint a cause of the crash, but the new evidence points toward terrorism.

The cockpit voice recorder previously revealed that the pilots tried to put out a fire as smoke detectors were activated in a lavatory and the area below the cockpit, where avionics equipment is held. But given that the plane is believed to have spun before crashing, rather than exploding mid-air—and as no group has claimed responsibility—some concluded that a fire simply overwhelmed the pilots, per the Guardian. (More EgyptAir crash stories.)

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