'Human remains from EgyptAir Flight points to explosion on board' - Egypt forensic official

An Egyptian forensic official investigating the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 says that human remains retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea, which have been examined, point to an explosion taking place on board the aircraft, according to AP.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to release information concerning the investigation, said the forensics team has to deal with very small body parts.

"There isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head," the official said according to AP.

"The logical explanation is that it was an explosion," he added, while also mentioning that the experts had so far been given around 80 small body parts to investigate.

However, a forensics official told Reuters that no traces of explosives have been found yet.

The Airbus A320 crashed early on Thursday morning around 170km from the Egyptian coast in the Mediterranean Sea, having taken off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

The plane was carrying 66 people, which comprised 56 passengers and 10 crew members. Of the passengers, 30 were Egyptian, 15 French and two Iraqi, with one from each of Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said that authorities are working hard to find the plane’s black boxes. Cairo deployed a submarine over the weekend to search for wreckage from the plane. He added that at this stage of the investigation “all scenarios” of plane crash “are possible.”

"So please, it is very important that we do not talk and say there is a specific scenario,” Sisi said. “This could take a long time but no one can hide these things. As soon as the results are out, people will be informed."