EgyptAir crash victims' remains to be returned to families

Egyptian authorities will return the remains of the passengers aboard an EgyptAir flight that crashed in May to their respective families.

EgyptAir Flight 804 was en route from Paris to Cairo when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. All 66 on board the Airbus A320 aircraft were killed, which included 40 Egyptians and 15 French nationals.

France welcomed Saturday's decision from the Egyptian state prosecutor. "This is an important decision which the families have been looking forward to and the urgency of which has been stressed a number of times in recent months by the French authorities," said the French foreign ministry in a statement.

Egyptian authorities will coordinate the transfer of the victims to each of their respective embassies. People from nine other countries were on the airliner.

Traces of explosives

The Egyptian aviation ministry determined Thursday that the victims of the crash had traces of explosives on their persons. However, France's air safety agency said it was not possible to determine the cause of the crash from the samples.

Investigators determined a fire broke out in or near the cockpit before the plane crashed. No distress signal was received from the plane.

kbd/kl (AFP, dpa)