Smoke detected on EgyptAir flight just before crash, search continues

The Egyptian investigation committee said Saturday that it's "too early" to make judgments about the cause of the crash.

"We are looking at all information collected, but it is far too early to make judgment or decision based on a single source of information," the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said in the report.

"The investigation process involves multiple technical specialists, representing many parties, multiple national agencies and international governments," the committee said.

The statement came after the Egyptian Foreign Ministry slammed Friday the CNN's crash coverage as "disrespectful."

"It's disrespectful that CNN insinuates pilot suicide in #EgyptAirMS804 tragedy while families are mourning," the ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid tweeted on Friday.

Also on Friday, the Egyptian armed forces said in a statement that they found some personal belongings and remains of the victims and parts of the plane wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea, 290 km north of the coastal city Alexandria.

Egypt's military has released pictures of wreckage recovered so far, including a pink bag decorated with butterflies, a life vest, shredded seat covers and mangled debris showing the EgyptAir's name.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered Thursday an investigative committee formed by the civil aviation ministry to immediately start investigating the cause of the plane's disappearance.Egypt, Greece and France were all involved in the search for the plane.

Three investigators and a technical expert from France's air accident authority and Airbus arrived in Egypt early Friday morning to help investigate the tragedy, as the plane was manufactured in France.

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos also said Friday that the country's military aircraft took off from the military base of Kastelli in the outskirts of Crete island to join a multinational operation to search for the plane wreckage.

Two C-130 planes were already participating in the operation, and a Super Puma helicopter was on standby at the island of Karpathos.

The Greek bases on the Crete island in the Mediterranean Sea will be available for allied forces participating in the ongoing operation if necessary, he said.

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