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| Egypt Says Traces of Explosives Were Found on EgyptAir Crash Victims | Egypt Says Traces of Explosives Were Found on EgyptAir Crash Victims |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| CAIRO — Egypt said on Thursday that explosive traces had been detected on the bodies of passengers retrieved from EgyptAir Flight 804, which plunged into the Mediterranean Sea in May and killed all 66 people on board. | |
| The announcement by the Civil Aviation Ministry offers the strongest suggestion yet that a bomb might have felled the airliner as it flew to Cairo from Paris. Previously, officials had focused on a fire as a likely cause. | |
| It was not immediately clear from the announcement when Egyptian officials had drawn the conclusion about the explosives. Most of the bodies were recovered from the sea by July. | |
| “The timing is odd, and the results are very late,” said Shaker Kelada, a former chief aviation investigator with the ministry. | |
| The announcement came in the midst of new fears in Egypt over intensifying violence by the Islamic State and affiliated groups. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing of a Coptic cathedral in Cairo on Sunday and vowed more such attacks. | |
| Mr. Kelada said the EgyptAir announcement may have been made because of the cathedral attack. | |
| “The whole thing is very much politicized,” he said. “Maybe the government thought this was a good time to say ‘terrorism.’” | |
| No militant group has claimed responsibility for the EgyptAir crash, and some experts say there could be other explanations for the explosive traces besides a bomb. | No militant group has claimed responsibility for the EgyptAir crash, and some experts say there could be other explanations for the explosive traces besides a bomb. |
| Readings from the plane’s data and voice recorders, released by Egypt during the summer, indicated that smoke had spread through the cockpit just before the crash, and that one of the pilots had warned of a “fire.” | Readings from the plane’s data and voice recorders, released by Egypt during the summer, indicated that smoke had spread through the cockpit just before the crash, and that one of the pilots had warned of a “fire.” |
| Investigators have said they did not know what caused the blaze, but the evidence indicated that the plane broke up in midair after the fire overwhelmed the crew. | Investigators have said they did not know what caused the blaze, but the evidence indicated that the plane broke up in midair after the fire overwhelmed the crew. |
| In September, the newspaper Le Figaro reported that French officials had found traces of explosives on the wreckage, but that their Egyptian counterparts had prevented them from conducting further tests. Egyptian officials cited in the article denied that the French team had been obstructed. | In September, the newspaper Le Figaro reported that French officials had found traces of explosives on the wreckage, but that their Egyptian counterparts had prevented them from conducting further tests. Egyptian officials cited in the article denied that the French team had been obstructed. |
| In the early months of the investigations, senior Egyptian officials openly favored the bomb theory because it shifted potential blame away from the EgyptAir crew and the company’s maintenance record, and on to security procedures at Charles de Gaulle Airport, where the flight took off. |