EgyptAir crash | Explosives found on victims, investigators say

Traces of explosives have been found on victims of the EgyptAir flight MS804 plane crash over the Mediterranean in May, investigators have said.

Following the announcement on Thursday, Egypt's civil aviation ministry released a statement saying that a criminal investigation would now begin into the crash of the Airbus A320.

Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo plunged into the sea on 19 May killing all 66 people on board.

The Airbus A320 was carrying 40 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, two Canadians and one passenger each from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The cause of the crash has remained unclear but flight data suggested that rather than exploding in mid-air, the plane had flown into the sea.

Egyptian investigators have confirmed the aircraft made a 90-degree left turn followed by a 360-degree turn to the right before hitting the sea.

In July, the Egyptian investigative committee, examining the cause of the crash, revealed that the word “fire” was audible on the plane’s cockpit voice recorder shortly before it crashed, although no distress call was made.

Automated electronic messages sent out by the plane showed smoke detectors going off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit, minutes before the plane vanished.

Recovered wreckage showed signs of damage caused by high temperature and there was soot on the jet's front section.

The black box, retrieved from the crash site by a specialist diving vessel, also confirmed that smoke alarms had been triggered onboard, while recovered wreckage had indications of soot.

Although there were fears that an act of terrorism might have brought the plane down, no group has said it targeted the plane.

The Egyptian ministry said on Thursday that, under Egyptian law, state prosecutors would take the investigation over "if it becomes clear to the investigative committee that there is criminal suspicion behind the accident".

The crash came seven months after a Russian passenger plane was brought down by a bomb over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.

An Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group said it was behind that attack.