Cairo: Egyptian authorities on Saturday started handing over the remains of victims in an EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea in May killing all 66 people on board.
Remains of the aircraft’s 10 crew members, all Egyptians, were returned to their families at a mortuary in southern Cairo. The remains of each victim were carried inside a coffin with a label mentioning the name.
A special funeral prayer was performed later in a Cairo mosque before the victims’ burial.
The remains of the 56 other victims will be returned this week in response to an earlier order from the country’s chief prosecutor, forensic authorities and EgyptAir said.
On Sunday, remains of the 30 Egyptian passengers who were aboard the ill-fated airliner, will be handed over to their families.
Remains of 26 foreigners will be returned later in the week to their respective embassies.
The plane plunged into the Mediterranean on May 19 while it was en route from Cairo to Paris.
Its 56 passengers included 30 Egyptians and 15 French nationals.
There were also two Iraqis and one each from Algeria, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
Egypt said on December 15 that forensic examination had founded traces of explosions on bodies of the victims, suggesting the crash was the result of a terror act.