Search homes in on wreckage
2004-01-05 12:07
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt - Egyptian investigators have "just about" located the wreckage of the plane that crashed into the Red Sea at the weekend, killing all 148 people on board, a French official said on Monday on condition of anonymity.
"Based on the first Egyptian indications, the wreck has been just about been located," the official said, adding it appeared to be in about 400 metres of water rather than in the deeper chasms of the region.
The official, whose country is taking part in the Egyptian-led investigation, said "more details" could be obtained on the location of the wreck when a French patrol plane and a submarine robot are deployed.
France has been mourning for the 133 French tourists killed on their way home from a New Year's winter break when the plane of the Cairo-based charter company plunged into the sea off Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday.
The French official's claim comes after rescue workers on Monday kept up a round-the-clock search for debris and bodies.
"We continued looking all night for debris, anything that belonged to the plane," an officer with the Egyptian maritime police, speaking with customary anonymity, told AFP.
Dotting the horizon were Egyptian navy ships involved in the search since the Paris-bound charter plane crashed before dawn on Saturday.
France's naval attache Xavier de Sontenay meanwhile told AFP that the French team participating in the Egyptian-led investigation was awaiting Egyptian approval to deploy divers, as well as a submarine robot that arrived at the scene on Sunday.
De Sontenay also said a French frigate equipped with radars needed to find the plane's black box flight recorders was expected to arrive from Djibouti within 24 hours.
There were few details of the Egyptian search, though the hunt appeared much more active during the day, with rescue workers on Sunday using hand-held fishing nets to sift up personal belongings and small pieces of wreckage.
Egyptian officials have said so far only small body parts have been found, as the impact of the crash was enormous.