Main tourism bay closed
2004-01-04 12:07
Sharm El-Sheikh - The Egyptian authorities have barred all water sports in the area's main bay for tourists to facilitate the search for bodies and debris from a plane that crashed into the Red Sea.
And in another development, France's naval attache in Egypt Xavier de Santenay says a French submarine robot has arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh to help in the search.
He said the robot was capable of operating to a depth of 400 metres. The wreckage of the plane is lying at around 300 metres.
The bay was empty of the usual windsurfers, paragliders, snorkelers, pleasure boaters as well as scuba divers heading out to sea in other boats, as several Egyptian Navy search ships dotted the horizon.
"The rescue workers have not found a complete body and have only found the remains of bodies," a source says.
"Efforts are focusing on the search for the plane's fuselage," he added.
All 148 people aboard the plane operated by the charter firm Flash Airlines are believed to have died in the crash. Most of them were French tourists returning from a New Year's holiday on the Red Sea.