Traces of explosive have been discovered on the remains of victims of the EgyptAir plane crash, Egyptian investigators have said.
A criminal investigation is now being launched into the incident by Egypt’s civil aviation ministry.
The Airbus A320 was en route to Cairo from Paris when it crashed over the Mediterranean in May, killing all 66 people onboard.
A source close to the French crash investigation is said to doubt the findings from Egypt, BBC News reports.
They told BBC News there had been "difficulties" cooperating with Egyptian authorities and that their main concern was to see the remains of the French victims returned to France.
The aircraft had been carrying 40 Egyptians, including its 10-member crew, and 15 French nationals.
In response to the latest findings, France’s foreign ministry said investigations into the crash were continuing.
"France, like it has been from the beginning of this tragic accident, remains at the disposal of the relevant Egyptian authorities to contribute to this investigation, including with the means of its experts," it said on Thursday (December 15).
A prosecutor in Paris opened a manslaughter investigation into the crash in June.
In spite of both ongoing investigations, the cause of the crash remains unclear.
It is believed no distress call was made before the aircraft crashed, but the plane’s cockpit voice recorder revealed that pilots had fought to put out a fire.
Automated electronic messages, which were sent out by the plane, indicated that smoke detectors had gone off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit, a short while before the plane vanished from radar.
Wreckage recovered during the investigation has showed signs of damage, believed to be caused by a high temperature and soot has been found on the aircraft’s front section, BBC News reports.
Although there were fears that an act of terrorism might have brought the plane down, no group has said it targeted the plane.
The Egyptian ministry said on Thursday that, under Egyptian law, state prosecutors would take the investigation over "if it becomes clear to the investigative committee that there is criminal suspicion behind the accident".