A Portuguese citizen is reported to be aboard the EgyptAir plane carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members that is believed to have crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to international press, the plane took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11.09pm last night (May 18) and went missing at 2.45am on route to Cairo International.
One Portuguese is said to be aboard the plane, as well as 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, and a passenger each from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Algeria and Canada.
Egyptian aviation officials have said the plane crashed and that a search is underway, while the Greek Merchant Navy is reported to have seen a “flame in the sky” in the south Mediterranean.
EgyptAir has not confirmed the plane crash and has asked media to “abide by the official press releases issued by EgyptAir media centre.”
Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation for the incident, including terrorism, Reuters reports.
“We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything. All the search operations must be concluded so we can know the cause,” he said.
