No reports of TNT traces on EgyptAir MS804 wreckage

The Egyptian team investigating the crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 did not receive any new evidence related to TNT traces on the flight wreckage from French investigators, an Egyptian official was quoted by state-run Ahram Online website as saying on Saturday.

The remarks came one day after French newspaper Le Figaro reported that French investigators found traces of TNT on the flight wreckage.

"The investigation committee has not received any technical reports on investigation results from the (interior ministry's) criminal lab or the general prosecution on the matter," the Egyptian civil aviation ministry's media department head Bassem Samy told Ahram Online.

• The crashed plane went missing from radar screens on May 19 en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people onboard, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French.

Le Figaro also reported that Egyptian judicial authorities prevented investigators from further examination of the wreckage.

"The committee is still working to identify the technical causes of the crash," Samy said, adding that any new results of the probe will be announced once verified.

In July, the investigation committee said the black boxes of the crashed plane suggested a fire on board. The probe is still ongoing with all theories on the table, yet without a strong clue for any. 
 [Xinhua/china.org.cn]
18/9/16