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Despite early reports to the contrary, an EgyptAir official now says debris from flight MS804 has not yet been found. USA TODAY
A relative of a passenger who was flying aboard an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo overnight cries as family members are transported by bus to a gathering point at Cairo airport on May 19, 2016.(Photo: Khaled Desouki, AFP/Getty Images)
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egyptian army said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>180 miles<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from the Egyptian coastal city of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Alexandria on Friday.
Egyptian army spokesman<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a statement posted on his Facebook page<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that Egyptian planes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and navy<span style="color: Red;">*</span>vessels<span style="color: Red;">*</span>found “personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris.” He said a recovery process was under way.
The Greek defense minister said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egyptian authorities said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>they<span style="color: Red;">*</span>spotted a body part, two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>seats and suitcases, the Associated Press reported.
"EGYPTAIR sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MS804," the airline tweeted. It<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said airline officials met with relatives<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of the passengers and crew<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at a hotel near<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cairo International<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Airport to inform them of the situation.
Planes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and ships resumed the search for the wreckage Friday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after the jet<span style="color: Red;">*</span>turned wildly and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people aboard the previous day.
"The presidency with utmost sadness and regret mourns the victims on aboard the EgyptAir flight who were killed after the plane crashed in the Mediterranean on its way back to Cairo from Paris,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the office of Egyptian President<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Abdel Fattah el-Sisi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said in a statement, according to CNN.
Friday's discovery<span style="color: Red;">*</span>comes after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reports that debris from the jet<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Thursday turned out to be incorrect.
The Airbus A320, which took off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris bound for Cairo International<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Airport, had 56 passengers and 10 crew members on board when it vanished from radar around 2:45 a.m. Cairo time. The plane went down about 175 miles from Egypt's coastline<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after making a sudden 90-degree turn to the left and then doing a full, 360-degree spin to the right, according to Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos.
USA TODAY
EgyptAir plane disappearance: What we know
There were reports Thursday that debris from the flight had been recovered near the Greek island of Karpathos, but Greek officials later announced that "an assessment of the finds showed that they do not belong to an aircraft."
Egyptian officials said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>three French and three British investigators and an Airbus<span style="color: Red;">*</span>expert<span style="color: Red;">*</span>arrived in Cairo to help investigate the crash, the Associated Press reported.
Commander Marius Tzannis, the deputy spokesman of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, told CNN that a Greek frigate<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was pulled<span style="color: Red;">*</span>out of the search Friday. He said that Greece still has a military plane in area<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and others on standby on the islands of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Crete and Karpathos.
Egyptian<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the possibility of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a terror attack as the cause of the crash of flight MS804<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is "higher than that of a technical error,”<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egypt's state-run newspaper<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Al-Ahram<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported.
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Other experts have also speculated that the plane was likely brought down by terrorists.
The head of Russia's top domestic security agency said, "In all likelihood it was a terror attack."
John Goglia, a former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board member, said a bomb was the likely cause because no distress call appears to have been made — indicating a sudden event —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and the wild turns would be consistent with an explosion.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest, on the other hand, said it was still unknown what caused the crash.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"We’re still early in the investigation," he said.
USA TODAY
White House: It's too soon to know fate of Egyptian airliner
FBI Director James Comey said, "We don't know exactly what this is yet."
But the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, had zero doubt that terrorists were responsible for the crash.
"If anybody thinks it wasn't blown out of the sky, you're 100% wrong folks, OK?" Trump said Thursday at campaign event in New Jersey.
Hillary Clinton said it "does appear that it was an act of terrorism," in an interview with CNN. "Exactly how, of course, the investigation will have to determine."
USA TODAY
Trump: EgyptAir flight 'got blown out of the sky'
According to EgyptAir, the passengers consisted of 15 French, 30 Egyptians, two Iraqis, one Briton, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Belgian, one Algerian and one Canadian. Two babies were aboard, officials said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion says two Canadians were on board but it is unclear if the second Canadian was a passenger or a crew member and whether that person had dual citizenship.
Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Julie Bishop said in a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>statement that the Briton who was on the doomed flight is also a dual citizen of Australia.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Associated Press<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
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