THE bodies and luggage of passengers have been found among tragic EgyptAir flight wreckage off the Egyptian coast, officials have said.
The discovery was made by Egyptian military five miles from the spot where the passenger jet lost communication yesterday morning.
A headcount has not been confirmed but Greek officials told journalists that Navy vessels had pulled the wreckage from the sea early this morning 180 miles from Alexandria, Egypt.
Satellite images showing an oil slick near the area are further confirmation that the missing plane has now been found.
EgyptAir flight MS804 – carrying 66 passengers and crew – fell off the radar an hour before it was due to land in Cairo on Thursday morning.
GReek MoD confirms bodies, #MS804 plane parts and backages found 5 miles south of spot where #EgyptAir flight went off radar— Anthee Carassava (@antheecarassava) May 20, 2016
The Egyptian military confirmed that the Navy this morning "found a few personal belongings of the passengers, as well as a piece of the plane in the area north of Alexandria at a distance of 290km" in a Facebook post.
It comes a day after conflicting reports over the fate of the tragic flight from Egyptian, French and Greek officials.
As an investigation into what exactly happened to the flight was launched yesterday morning there were several reports of debris spotted in the sea and alleged sightings of a "fire ball" in the skies above Greece.
And speculation that a yellow lifejacket had been seen floating off the south coast of Greece was quickly shot down by authorities.
But today's announcement will the tragically bitter sweet news that families and friends gathered at Cairo airport will have been waiting for following a day of unanswered questions.
They include Welshman Richard Osman, 40, who had just become a father for the second time.
His brother appeared on ITV yesterday to pay tribute to the geologist – who was flying to Cairo to work for a gold-mining firm in Egypt when it disappeared.
EgyptAir had previously refused to confirm that the plane had crashed – despite Greek and French authorities explicitly stating so during press conferences.
But this morning they shared their condolences for the families of the 66 onboard.
The pressure is now on to find the all-important black box which could reveal exactly what happened to the passenger jet.
Divers will have 30 days before the battery of the box will give up.
It holds audio from the cockpit and a stream of flight information that could prove conclusively whether the plane was attacked as part of a terror plot or suffered mechanical failure.
Fears of an "inside job" were growing yesterday after it emerged that more than 50 airport staff at Charles de-Gaulle airport – where the flight departed on Wednesday evening – had been on a terror watch list.
Pictures emerged on social media of the two EgyptAir co-pilots believed to have struggled with the plane in the cockpit before it swerved and plunged 22,000ft into the mediterranean.
Mohamed Said Shoukair and Mohamed Mamdouh Ahmed Assem were named by an official close to the investigation, according to CNN.
Mr Assem's Facebook page has been turned into a memorial where several have posted tributes to the man.
It is understood that the plane spun and swerved sharply to the left before it cut all contact with traffic control as it flew over the Greek islands.
Aviation experts and government ministers yesterday claimed the crash was likely a terror attack – sparking fears that the swerving motions signalled a struggle for control in the cockpit.
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