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Egypt, France FMs exchange condolences over missing passenger jet: ministry

Xinhua, May 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Egyptian and French foreign ministers exchanged condolences over the "victims" of an EgyptAir plane that vanished form radar early Thursday, MENA news agency quoted Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid as saying.

"Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry received a phone call from his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault where the latter expressed sincere condolences over EgyptAir plane incident," the Egyptian spokesman said, noting the Egyptian foreign minister returned condolences over the French victims on board.

Neither the Egyptian government nor EgyptAir has confirmed that the aircraft has crashed, but Greek media reported earlier that it had crashed into waters off the Greek island of Karpathos.

EgyptAir said that flight MS 804, an Airbus 320, disappeared Thursday at 2:45 a.m. Cairo time (0045 GMT), with 66 people aboard, including 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one each from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Meanwhile, an emergency National Security Council meeting led by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is currently held over the plane disappearance.

A press briefing by the country's minister of civil aviation is scheduled for 1:30 PM Cairo time (1130 GMT). Endit